Council schedules public hearing after consultant outlines system development fees

A Rap Delis consultant told the Hamlet City Council on Monday that system development fees (one‑time charges assessed to new development to pay for growth‑related capacity) are legally authorized and can be calculated using existing asset values or projected expansion costs.

Ford Mardi, the Rap Delis presenter, described the two approaches the city selected: a "buying approach" for water, which divides an adjusted replacement‑cost asset base by the system's capacity, and a marginal incremental approach for sewer tied to planned treatment‑plant expansion. "Again, essentially what we're looking at is a one‑time charge to new development ... growth pays for growth," he said.

Mardi walked the council through Rap Delis's math: an adjusted water system asset base of roughly $4 million and an existing treatment capacity of 3 million gallons per day produced a unit cost that, when scaled to the consultant's chosen single‑family equivalent (270 gallons per day), yields a maximum cost‑justified water fee of roughly $354 per typical single‑family connection. For sewer, the consultant reported an estimated expansion cost net of $6 million in grants and a 25% debt credit, leaving about $7.1 million to buy 2 million gallons per day of added capacity — a calculation that produces a recommended maximum of roughly $87 for a comparable single‑family connection.

Mardi reiterated the statutory process tied to House Bill 436 (2017) and Article 8: the city must post the final fee report online for 45 days to solicit written comment, then hold a published public hearing before a final adoption vote. "They need to be updated at least every five years," he said, summarizing statutory requirements.

After questions from council members about meter sizing, the distinction between installation charges and system development fees, and the role of grant credits and debt credits in the calculations, a council member moved to "accept and post the 45‑day required public notification so that we can hold a public hearing in January to consider these for permanent adoption." The motion was seconded and passed on a voice vote.

What happens next: the Rap Delis report will be posted for the required 45‑day public comment period; staff and council will consider any submitted written comments and the city will hold a public hearing in January, at which point council may vote to adopt, amend or reject the proposed fees.