Town of Farmington, CT Deferred Assessment of Costs

Whenever a sewer is laid out and assessed by the Town of Farmington through or adjacent to undeveloped lands or in a highway abutting such undeveloped lands and whenever the Farmington Water Pollution Control Authority, hereinafter referred to as the "Authority," determines that at the time of completion of said sewer there would not be immediate benefit accruing to said lands and that such benefits will not accrue until there is a major change in conditions of accessibility, in zoning restrictions or in use or in other conditions, the Authority may, by these provisions adopted by the Council acting under § C3-7 of the Charter of the Town of Farmington, defer the assessments and the collection of the same until the growth and development of the area warrants a termination of such deferment.

§ 156-2 Sewers through cemetery land.

[Amended 7-28-1992]

Whenever a sewer is laid out and assessed by the Town of Farmington through or adjacent to land held for cemetery purposes or in a highway abutting such land, and whenever the Authority determines that at the time of completion of said sewer there would not be immediate benefit accruing to said land and that such benefits will not accrue until there is a major change in conditions or use, the Authority may, by these provisions adopted by the Town Council acting under § C3-7 of the Charter of the Town of Farmington, defer the assessments and the collection of the same until such a major change in conditions or use occurs.

§ 156-3 When connection can be made.

When an assessment for a sewer on any land has been deferred as provided in the two foregoing sections, connections from such lands to said sewer shall not be permitted until:

The Authority has determined that the conditions have altered due to change in accessibility, zoning or use or to the establishment or dedication of streets or to the approval of subdivisions by the Farmington Town Plan and Zoning Commission or in some other manner sufficient for normal benefit to accrue to the land or any part thereof and said Authority has declared that the assessment on such land is due and payable and given proper notice thereof; or

A sanitary sewer connection charge has been paid by or for the owners of the land which is to be served by said connection, which payment shall be in lieu of and in amount equal to the assessment on such land.

§ 156-4 Sanitary sewer connection charge.

[Amended 5-11-2010]

The amount of a sanitary sewer connection charge to be paid in lieu of a benefit assessment shall be in an amount equal to the final assessment rate of the original final assessment applied to the frontage or acreage, as the case may be, of said land or such part of such land as, in the opinion of the Authority, is benefited at the time of connection, provided that the connection charge for any property that is zoned for residential use shall be in an amount not greater than the present value of the original final assessment of said land or such part of such land as, in the opinion of the Authority, is benefited at the time of connection, determined in accordance with § 156-49.

§ 156-5 Caveat and lien.

To notify an owner or prospective buyer of land upon which there is an assessment for a sewer laid, but deferred as provided hereinbefore, a caveat shall be filed within 30 days of the passage of the resolution laying out the sewer or within 30 days of the effective date of this article, whichever is later, and the benefits, though deferred, shall be a lien upon the land on account of which they were assessed, which lien shall commence and attach to such land from the time of passage by the Authority of the vote laying out said sewer or from the time of the effective date of this article, whichever is later, and the same shall remain a lien thereon until three months after such time as such benefits, the assessment of which was deferred, shall be finally assessed and declared due and payable, but thereafter such caveat shall not remain a lien unless within said three months after the assessment of benefits has been declared due and payable a certificate signed by an agent of the Authority is lodged with the Town of Farmington, for record, which certificate shall describe the premises, the amount assessed and the improvement for which it was assessed, and provided that, in all cases of such liens, within 30 days from the time when such liens shall commence and attach to the land, a caveat shall be entered in a record to be kept by a designated agent of the Authority briefly describing the land upon which such liens shall attach, together with the names of the owners thereof.

Such caveats shall further indicate the provisions for future payment, whether by later declaration by the Authority that assessments are due and payable or by payment of a connection charge, in which case the caveat and lien will be released on such land or portion of which as payment in lieu of assessment has been made.

§ 156-6 Sewers built by developers.

Whenever a sewer has not been laid out and assessed by the Authority but has been built for the Authority under a developer's permit agreement passing land owned by others, which others might later request a house connection to the sewer, no connection shall be permitted by the Authority unless:

Said other owner first submits satisfactory written proof to the Authority that he has paid the developer a normal and equitable share of the sewer construction cost;

Said other owner first signs a form of agreement waiving the Authority's usual layout and assessment procedures and pays a sanitary sewer connection charge; or

The Authority has passed a layout and assessment covering the section in question.

§ 156-7 Reimbursement of developers.

[Amended 5-11-2010]

The Authority is empowered, at its discretion, to include in agreements with developers or other owners for the construction of sewers by and at the expense of such developers or owners provisions for the reimbursement of said developers or owners for sanitary sewers connection charges collected as provided in § 156-6 hereof for the costs of sewers constructed by them in sections of highways on which lands owned by them do not abut, such reimbursement not to exceed the cost of construction within such sections of highways, and to limit the time within which such reimbursements may occur to such time as said Authority may deem expedient for the particular case , but no reimbursement shall be made after 20 years from the date of the incorporation of the particular sewer into the public system. Expiration of the time for reimbursement to the developer shall not release subsequent permittees from paying a connection charge to the Town of Farmington.

§ 156-8 Special agreements for payment of sewer connection charges.

[Amended 2-26-1963]

Whenever a sewer has been laid out and constructed by the Authority to serve a particular section of highway or a particular area, no connection will be permitted thereto for any property which has not been assessed therefor or has not shared in an equitable manner in the expense thereof, unless, prior to such connection, the owner of such property first enters into a special agreement, to be recorded in the land records, providing for advance payment by the owner of a sanitary sewer connection charge, except in that situation where the Authority shall, by appropriate vote, permit payment of said connection charge over a period to be determined by the Authority, provided that the permission granted will not affect the power of the Authority to make future sewer layouts and benefit assessments thereof against the property of said owner in the same manner as if permission to connect had never been granted by the Authority, and agreeing to credit said connection charge payment toward any such future assessment, without allowance for interest between the date of payment of said charge and the date of any future final assessment billed said owner.

§ 156-9 Determination of amount of connection charge.

[Amended 5-11-2010]

The amount of the sanitary sewer connection charge for the connection under §§ 156-6, 156-7 and 156-8 hereof shall be determined by calculating the present value of the project's original assessment in accordance with § 156-49. Such connection charges, including those deferred in § 156-3B hereof, shall be paid to the Collector of Revenue of the Town of Farmington, the collecting agent for the Water Pollution Control Authority and the Town of Farmington, credited to the proper account, turned over by said Collector of Revenue to the Treasurer of the Town of Farmington and deposited in the sewer fund, which shall be separate from other funds of the Town of Farmington.