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Comprehensive Plan Potable Water Sub-Element Community Development Department Indian River County 39 Funding Expansion/Capital Improvements Being an enterprise operation, the County Utilities Department is financially self-sufficient, with no general tax money allocated for utility system capital or operational expenses. Revenues to pay for distribution system expansion are generated through impact fees, assessments, line extension fees, and developer’s contributions. Thus, lines are paid for as they are expanded, and they are expanded in response to demand. Therefore, any extension of the water distribution network is funded primarily from revenue obtained from landowners who benefit from the extension. Generally, capacity charges and line extension fees pay for the future capital expansions identified in the Potable Water System Master Plan. If there is a need for expansion of county utility infrastructure in an area sooner than the Utility Department's need assessment indicates, there must be some financial commitment from other sources. In some cases, the county can extend a line through an agreement between the County and a developer. This type of agreement requires the developer to provide for the extension of lines at a size meeting Master Plan needs with possible reimbursement provided in the future when other customers hook onto the system and pay applicable charges. Once the main lines are in place, smaller lines branch off into developments and subdivisions. These smaller lines are funded by developers or with assessments. Through these methods, potable water service is provided to an area, and assessments are the responsibility of the benefitting landowners. After an assessment line is installed, individual property owners can have a plumber connect their buildings to the system. Prior to receiving service, however, a property owner must pay any utility capacity charges, deposits, and meter installation fees. Utility capacity charges may be financed for up to 5 years. Through its local housing assistance program, the county can pay utility capacity charges for very low and low income households. The county can also use federal and state grants, such as Rural Economic and Community Development Program (formerly the Farmers Home Administration) Grants and Community Development Block Grants, to expand water service to areas with a high percentage of low and very low income households. In the past, the county has acquired private water systems and incorporated them into its network. It is expected that this practice will continue in the future because private systems generally cannot provide the same level of service at reasonable costs that the county's centralized system can provide. A list of potable water system capital improvements is provided in the Capital Improvements Element (CIE) of the county’s comprehensive plan. Since the county’s CIE must be updated annually, projects completed will be extracted from the list of capital improvements, and new