On Thursday, August 26, the Sierra Vista City Council approved a new schedule of sewer hook-up fees which will go into effect on January 1, 2010. These fees were developed after a full analysis by the City's consultant, TischlerBise. The last time a formal study was done to calculate sewer connection fees was in the early 1980's. The new format moves away from a calculation based on each plumbing fixture unit (PFU), and instead has a flat rate that will be charged for each water meter hooked to a new building, with the scale based upon the size and type of the meter. The new rates were calculated based upon the future costs needed to expand the City's sewer infrastructure, including the projected costs for the planned package treatment plant currently under design for placement within the new Tribute master planned community.

The new methodology used for the revised connection fees also will result in the elimination of augmentation and reimbursement districts. After January 1, the new connection fees will be the only sewer fees paid at the time of building permit issuance. Currently, additional fees are added depending on whether a project is located within one or more reimbursement or augmentation district, which are areas in which either a developer or the City has installed sewer infrastructure large enough to accommodate additional flows from customers as an area develops over time.

The following is a summary of the new sewer connection fees:

2009 Sewer Connection Fee Study