Warren County sets uniform nonparticipation fees for retired water and sewer projects

The Warren County Board of Commissioners voted to adopt a resolution standardizing nonparticipation fees for portions of retired water and sewer projects, the board said during a meeting where the item was introduced.

The resolution sets an average nonparticipation fee of about $2,200 for water and about $2,000 for sewer for accounts associated with lines whose project debt has been retired. County staff told commissioners the change is intended to simplify how those accounts are handled in a new accounting software system and applies only to accounts moving forward, not retroactively.

Commissioners were told the county is carrying roughly 150 nonparticipation accounts from projects whose debt retirement period has ended. Rather than continuing to track each unique historic fee for every retired project, staff averaged outstanding balances and proposed two flat rates to reduce complexity in the county’s new finance system and avoid programming scores of legacy entries.

According to the presentation, funds collected from these nonparticipation fees are held in the county’s capital account for repair, replacement and expansion projects once the original project-specific debt retirement fund expires. Commissioners asked whether the standard rates would apply to new projects; staff clarified new projects will continue to be assessed based on actual project costs and only the retired-project subset will use the averages.

The motion to adopt the resolution was moved and the clerk called the roll. The record shows Commissioners Grossman, Young and Jones voting yes and the resolution was approved.

The board did not provide a detailed breakdown at the meeting of which specific retired projects or parcels are affected, and staff said the change would be applied going forward as the county transitions to the new accounting system.