Commissioners direct 45-day public comment after choosing incremental approach for system development fees

Union County commissioners directed staff to prepare updated system development fees using the incremental-cost method and approved starting the required 45-day public comment period on the study.

Stantec consultants Andrew Burnham and Kevin Cook presented the county’s updated system development fee study, summarizing three statutorily allowed approaches under North Carolina’s Public Water and Sewer System Development Fee Act: buy-in (historic cost), incremental (forward-looking expansion cost), and a hybrid that combines existing and planned capital. Burnham said the incremental approach aligns with the county’s current capital-improvement program because planned expansions — especially wastewater conveyance and treatment upgrades — will provide the additional capacity growth requires.

Staff and the consultants reviewed current fees and modeled results. Present fees for a new 3/4‑inch meter were described as $1,678 for water and $6,412 for sewer under the county’s current schedule. Stantec's recalculations produced a range depending on method: for water, buy-in results were roughly $2,000, the hybrid about $2,400 and the incremental method about $4,669 for a 3/4‑inch meter; for sewer, the incremental approach produced the highest estimate, roughly $10,800, because it included expanded conveyance and force-main costs in addition to treatment capacity.

Burnham noted that the statute requires credits (grants, developer contributions and debt offsets) and limits the planning horizon (between five and 20 years) in how capital costs are allocated. He also reminded the board that although studies produce a “full cost” number, the board may choose to adopt a lower fee; however the board cannot adopt fees above the calculated maximums.

After discussion and questions about peer comparisons and allowable uses of fee revenue, a board member moved to adopt the incremental methodology for the updated report and to begin the 45-day public comment period; the motion passed on voice vote. Staff said the final draft would be posted to the county website for the comment period by April 14 and the county would return in June for a public hearing and consideration of formal adoption.

If adopted as modeled under the incremental approach, the county would allocate fees for expansion-related capital and related debt service for specific basins and types (water versus sewer); buy-in or hybrid approaches have broader allowable uses, including renewal and replacement in some cases.