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For most commercially metered utility customers, utility deposit requirements are less than $1,000. According to county records, the average commercial utility deposit required by the Utilities Department in 1994-95 was $219.93 for both water and sewer. Of the 245 new commercially metered water utility customers in 1994 and the 198 new commercially metered sewer customers in 1995, only 5 required a deposit in excess of $1,000. These utility deposit requirements are determined by. the county Utilities Department, based on the number of Equivalent Residential Units (ERU's) applicable to a business. An example of a commercially metered industrial customer is Orca Yachts, Inc. Based on Orca Yachts' estimated combined monthly water and sewer bill of $800 (1 ERU per 5 employees, 40 estimated employees = 8 ERU's x $50 per ERU for each county service x 2 for both county services = $800 estimated combined water and sewer total monthly utility bill), the required utility deposit was $1,600 for county water and sewer services. If the county on an annual basis could attract 5 such businesses with about 200 new employees, the total amount of the deposit needed to be guaranteed would be approximately.5 x $1,600, or $8,000 per year. The county's total subsidy would be $40 per new employee. As indicated, the average commercially metered utility deposit required by the County's Utility Department is much less than the $5,000 deposit threshold needed to make a surety bond or a bank letter of credit feasible. In fact, the amount is low enough to make it one of the less significant costs that a new business will incur. To determine if utility deposit.waivers are used regionally as an economic development incentive, St. Lucie, Martin, and Brevard Counties were surveyed. Based upon that survey, it was found that no utility company in these counties waives utility deposits for commercially metered accounts. Staff, through coordination with the county's Utility Department, Attorney's Office, and Budget Office, determined that the utility deposit requirement could not be waived. To eliminate the utility deposit cost, the deposit must be provided from another source. Consequently, it was determined that the county would have to pay or guarantee the deposit amount, if the county wanted to eliminate utility deposits as an economic development incentive. Furthermore, it was determined that any such utility deposit economic development incentive would apply only to county water and sewer utilities. Although the utility deposit waiver would not be a significant economic development incentive, it is an alternative that the county could pursue. To do so, however, would require that, instead of a utility waiving its deposit requirement, the county would have to guarantee the payment of the deposit in case of default. This would require no_payment of the deposit; instead the county would agree to pay the deposit amount if the industry defaulted. • Risk If the county -guaranteed the required deposit of an industrial customer and, if that customer were to default, the county would be responsible for any past due payments that the industrial customer may have accrued. For one customer, this would not be a significant amount, but the cumulative amount for the county could be substantial. 36 April 23, 1996