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ON UTILITY DEPT.’S WATER CONSUMPTION FEE AND <br />IMPACT FEE ON UTILITIES <br /> <br />Joseph Paladin <br /> thought it was grossly unfair that a developer has to pay the <br />“service bill” on the utility of $26 per month for each unit after the developer vests the (utility) <br />impact fees in a particular proposed development because it could span over 2 or 3 years before the <br />units are built. He thought it would be fair to address this and suggested the Commissioners permit <br />him to sit down with the Utilities Department and figure out when the most opportune time would <br />be for these fees to start such as when the water meter is installed. <br />County Administrator Baird totally disagreed with Mr. Paladin. He explained that <br />when a developer comes to the County to reserve capacity for units to be built in the future, the <br />Florida Department of Environmental Protection requires the County to reserve that capacity and it <br />cannot be resold to anyone else even though it is not being used. The County’s utility rate structure <br />is set up taking into consideration operating costs, fixed costs of the plant related to producing <br />water, fixed costs for plant operators, a variable cost for volume used, debt reduction costs, and <br /> <br />depreciation on the equipment.He cautioned that if we were to remove the fee, the County would <br />be subsidizing the developer and current users would have a 7-8% increase in their utility bills. A <br />plant could be running at 60% capacity with the other 40% held by developers. Fixed costs are <br />merely being passed on to the developers. He cautioned that the Board would be making a big <br />mistake if they were to change this rate structure. <br />When Chairman Neuberger suggested that staff sit down with Mr. Paladin to discuss <br />this, County Administrator Baird reiterated that if the Board were to decide to subsidize the <br />developers, there would have to be a rate increase for all other customers. <br />In response to Vice Chairman Wheeler’s scenario regarding Vero Highlands, <br />County Administrator Baird explained that when the County expands service to an established <br />neighborhood, the benefiting homeowners would be assessed. The County does not force <br />homeowners to hook up when the pipe is first put down. They would pay a monthly fee of $26 per <br />March 7, 2006 <br />21 <br /> <br />