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Metro Water details capacity rules: developers pay for upgrades; ratepayer funds not available to subsidize infrastructure for affordable housing
Summary
Metro Water Services said developers must provide capacity letters and pay for upsized pipes and treatment capacity when a project increases demand. Staff cautioned enterprise fund constraints prevent using ratepayer revenue to subsidize developers or shift funds across service lines.
Steve Mishue, an engineer with Metro Water Services, described how the water, sewer and stormwater systems interface with development and the limits on using Metro Water revenue to subsidize construction costs for private development.
Mishue said Metro Water supplies the county outside a handful of utility districts and provided system snapshots during the presentation: he said the water system currently pumps about 10 million gallons per day, the sewer system treats about 50 million gallons per day, and the department operates numerous hydrants and pipe networks (slides shown during the meeting used figures described by Mishue). He also explained that Metro Water requires capacity letters for water and sewer at the time a developer submits plans; if a project increases required pipe size or treatment capacity, the developer must pay to upgrade those elements. "Before any plan comes in, we will require capacity letters for water and sewer, and, based on their increased usage... they'll have to pay for the increased flows," Mishue said.
On funding limits, Mishue emphasized that Metro Water operates as an enterprise fund and must use ratepayer revenue for system obligations. In a question about whether the department could subsidize infrastructure for affordable housing, Mishue said Metro Water cannot reallocate ratepayer funds across service baskets to give developers a break. "We gotta be very cautious and mindful of how we use rate payers money," he said. "A lot of times, we can't take rate payers money and even shift it from the water sewer world to the stormwater world."
Mishue also described stormwater review requirements, low-impact development techniques such as pervious pavement and bioretention, and the department’s recently started stormwater master plan that emphasizes flood reduction, environmental and social considerations. He said some projects may be eligible for participation arrangements in which developers upsize regional facilities and the department seeks council approval for participation and cost-recovery terms.
In the meeting Q&A, planning staff noted an existing program in Planning called the Connecting Housing and Infrastructure Program (CHIP) that provides small capital support for infrastructure barriers to affordable housing, and Mishue and other staff said that such targeted support differs from broad ratepayer subsidies and must be carefully structured.
