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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 9853-~./ ORDINANCE No . ~~~~~ AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 37, "WATER AND SEWER°', OF THE CITY CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, AS AMENDED, BY PROVIDING FOR AND ESTABLISHING WASTEWATER SYSTEM FACILITY ACCESS FEES; MAKING THIS ORDINANCE CUMULATIVE OF PRIOR ORDINANCES; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES AND PROVISIONS OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH IN CONFLICT HEREWITH ; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR ENGROSSMENT AND ENROLLMENT; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Fort Worth, Texas deems it necessary and proper and in the best interests of the citizens of Fort Worth to promote the safe, orderly and healthful development of land; and WHEREAS, substantial economic development and increasing popu- lation within the region has placed a burden on the City's waste- water facilities and has caused a need to expand these facilities; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Fort Worth must endeavor to provide long-range solutions to the wastewater needs of the citizens of the City of Fort Worth in accordance with the City's Master Plan; and WHEREAS, in accordance with and in the exercise of the powers afforded to the City of Fort Worth under Article 974a and Article 1175, V.A.T.S. there are hereby established wastewater system facility access fees for certain uses. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH , TEXAS That Chapter 37 of the Code of the City of Fort Worth is hereby amended by adding Section 37-26.2, entitled "Wastewater System Facility Access Fees", and shall be as follows: SECTION 1 . DEFINITIONS When used in this section, these terms shall be defined as follows: "BUILDING PERMIT": A permit required by the City for the construction of any new dwelling or building. "CITY": City of Fort Worth, Texas. "COMMERCIAL": Any customer served by a single meter or meters that is engaged in any type of business, except the processing, fabrication, or manufacturing of any goods or products and any type of dwelling unit. "COMMERCIAL-MULTIPLE UNIT": Any customer that has a single meter or meters serving more than one business per meter and/or three or more dwelling units per meter. "DIRECTOR": The Director of the Water Department of the City of Fort Worth, or his authorized representative. "GENERAL BENEFIT FACILITY": Wastewater facilities that provide utility services and benefits common to all customers of the utility; this includes wastewater treatment plants, control systems and appurtenances, and all major collectors and interceptors that are eighteen inches (18") and greater in diameter. "INDUSTRIAL": Any customer served by one or more water meters whose sewage contains wastewater from a product fabricated, processed, or manufactured by the customer. "INDUSTRIAL-MONITORED CLASS": Any customer determined by the Director to be a producer of any sewage having a suspended solids or B.O.D. content which is significantly in excess of that found in normal sewage, but is otherwise acceptable into the city sanitary sewerage system. "INITIAL WASTEWATER SERVICE": The first wastewater service to be provided at a specific property location. -2- "LIVING AREA": The enclosed area of a dwelling that does not include garages, carports, and outside patios or porches. "METER": A device that measures the quantity of water used. The types of meters used herein are those described in the American Water Works Association C700 through C703 and M6 Standards. "PUBLIC UTILITY" : Any person, firm, corporation, coopera- tive corporation, or any combination of these persons or entities including a municipal corporation, water supply or sewer service corporation, or other political sub- division of the state, or their leasees, trustees, and receivers, owning or operating for compensation equipment or facilities for the provision of potable water to the public or for the collection and treatment of sewage for the public, but does not include any person or corporation not otherwise a public utility that furnishes the services only to itself or its employees or tenants as an incident of that employee's service or tenancy when that service is not resold to or used by others. "RESIDENTIAL": Any customer living in a dwelling having the necessary living facilities for one unit that is served by a single water meter. This class also includes a duplex dwelling where no more than two li~Jing units are supplied water through a single meter. SECT ION 2. SYSTEM FACILITY ACCESS FEE No person, firm, corporation or other entity shall be entitled to initial wastewater service until payment of the appropriate system facility access fee as set forth in Section 3 hereof. Payment of the system access fee is required as a condition precedent to establishing initial wastewater service. All other conditions for initiating service, such as deposit requirements, tap fees, exten- sion agreements, and service charges as covered elsewhere in the City Code and are in addition to the system access fee. -3- Prior to the initial connection of any building, structure, premises, or lot after the effective date of this ordinance to the City's wastewater system, the owner of that building, structure, premise or lot shall pay the system facility access fee as estab- lished in Section 3, such fee to be paid in cash prior to the issuance of the building permit. SECT ION 3. SCHEDULE OF FEES A. The System Facility Access Fees for the Residential Class using a 5/8 X 3/4 inch water meter shall be those as set out in Table I below. TABLE I Living Area Wastewater System (sq. ft. ) P.~ccess Fee Under 1000 88 1001-1200 102 1201-1400 116 1401-1600 130 1601-1800 144 1801-2000 158 Over 2000 172 B. The System Facility Access Fees for all other customer classes and the Residential Class using a water meter larger than the 5/8 X 3/4 inch meter shall be those as set out in Table II below. -4- C. The full amount of the fees set out in this ordinance, as amended from time-to-time through cost-of-service based studies, will be phased-in gradually as specified below: For City of Fort Worth Percentage of System Facility Fiscal Year Beginning Access Fee in Effect During October 1st: Fiscal Year to be Charged: WASTEWATER 1986 20~ 1987 40~ 1988 60~ 1989 80~ 1990 100 SECT ION 4 . PRIVATE AND PUBLIC FACILITIES If any property within or without the City's corporate limits utilizes a water well, a septic tank, or an individual waste disposal system and the property owner requests to be connected to the City's wastewater system, the customer shall be assessed the fee established by this ordinance before the property is connected to the City's wastewater system. Should the property owner request only a wastewater connection while retaining a private water well, the appropriate fee to be assessed will be determined by the Director of the Water Department. A System Facility Access Fee will not be assessed to any prop- erty which is receiving service from a wastewater treatment plant owned by a public utility when such public utility is acquired by the City and connected into the City's wastewater system. -6- SECT ION 5 . CLARIFICATIONS AND DETERMINATIONS Where a question arises as to the classification of a custo- mer's service class and/or the appropriate meter size, the Director shall make the determination in accordance with the existing City Code as of the date the question arises. Any customer shall have the right to request in writing from the Director an interpretation or clarification of the basis upon which a system facility access fee was assessed. SECT ION 6 . INCREASING SIZE OF METER If a customer requests an increase in meter size to an existing service, the customer shall pay the fee difference between the new level of service and the existing level of service as set out in Section 3 hereof. The additional fee shall be paid prior to the installation of the enlarged meter service. A request for additional sewer connections for improved prop- erty shall not result in the assessment of an additional System Facility Access Fee so long as no increase in the size of the water meter is made. SECTION 7 . DEDICATED FUNDS The System Facility Access Fees, together with all interest derived therefrom, that are generated by this Ordinance shall be deposited into a dedicated fund account to be used solely for the -7- financing of the construction, design, inspection, and other related expenses of general benefit wastewater capital improvement projects. A separate dedicated fund shall be established for receipt of proceeds from wholesale sewer customers of the City of Fort Worth. This dedicated fund shall not be comingled with fee proceeds from the retail customer class except to the extent funds may be combined for expenditure on general benefit capital facilities. Such funds collected from wholesale customers shall be used solely for the purposes set out in the contracts between Fort Worth and its wholesale customers. SECTION 8. It is intended that the fees collected by this ordinance will be utilized in a timely manner to provide additional capacity of general benefit facilities. For purposes of this ordinance, timely utilization of fees is determined to mean the encumbrance of funds for general benefit contracts within five (5) years from the date of the receipt of a fee. In the event that such proceeds are not en- cumbered within five years of date of receipt,. such fees will be refunded to the present property owner upon written request. SECT ION 9 . No system facility access fee shall be assessed an application for initial wastewater service provided: 1. all approach and on-site mains and facilities are in place and final inspection has been conducted and accepted by the Water Department; -8- ,.. 2. such application for the initial wastewater service is presented to the City on or before May 1, 1987; and 3. the application for a building permit for the same property as the initial wastewater service application. is presented to the City on or before September 30, 1987. SECTION 10. This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordi- nances and of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct conflict with the provisions of such ordinances and such Code, in which event conflicting provisions of such ordinances and such Code are hereby repealed. Ordinance No. 9805 is hereby repealed in its entirety. SECT ION 1 1 . It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared unconstitu- tional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section. -9- s SECTION 12. The City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth is hereby directed to engross and enroll this ordinance by copying the caption of this Ordinance in the minutes of the City Council and by filing the ordinance in the ordinance records of the City. SECTION 14. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect May 1, 1987 and it is so ordained. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: \J~~tl./ City Attorney Date : 3 ~ 3 (- ~ ~ ADOPTED: ~ C~/~f EFFECTIV °``~ < < ~ ~ ~~ ord2 -10- t I N h ~ ~ O O A =i C a a ~ ~ vi ~ H _ ~ Cn m . ° m Q. C 7~7 rt ~ • n ~ ~ ~ t '~ cn i r• G r• n C=7 H ~ w ~ w r• z N o ~ ~r ~ w y t~ p r• ~ r r r ~ o w y r t t rl rD r7 ~ a ~ ~ w y ~ cn o ~ ro ,v m v, ~ H O ao N Q• H t"' .'~ DC V F-~ A l~ rt7 W r ~ ao o r~ O ~ r ~O H N Cr1 .P to C/1 ~ r 00 ~ N O W N rd l~ DD O N N C"~ ~O Ui N N ~ lJt Cr1 F-~ C/1 1-r W N N h-1 I ro~ rn ~ ~ o rn ~o rn o +~ ~ r N 00 ~o w .~ ~c v, t~ N C/1 F-~ 1--' W W r-+ H 3 N ~O In OD N O h7 r In l~ V W C'~ V 1-+ lIt O OD ao Ci] to y N C, CTJ N W ~O 00 O N H ~O W O Oo ~O r O~ OD V DD V O ~ O Fr N V ~ H O ~O N r '.G ~ w ~c o ~ w ~ ~ r ~ V O r~ y In r+7 to y ~ r~ O In L~ r~ ~O ,hd V a~ i1, oo z trJ W r+ In lft W r ~ N Z ~--~ N ~ O ',D ~ tIi ~CA r y N N N C, In 00 O V ~1 bo ~ O r' r-' r 7. H z N H to r ~ w O N V ~ V '~'C ~J d~ ~ W N O Z ~O zz~ . l~ N N ~ ~ N C~ i/? W W V ~ Q DD N ~ ~ w o ~o ~ z ~ owo ~ o°o t°v a O -vs o~ r-' r+ y ~ Oho O t~ "O,C r-~ b~! O :o ~ ~ ~ z N r-e c° ~ ~ ono ~;. o a o r~ t~ a N f7 B Q1 n W 1'r W PT ~4 c~ H Ki fD fD yH bd r r~ H H `^ . ~COUNTINA. 7AN8?0RT'AT16L,~f~d?UBLtQ Vi'~DRKSiJ\\ /1( ~(7J'~ J/®~11° VIAI"ER ADMINlSTRA'ftOd~t 41 ~~,~ ~~~~~~~ ~®~~~~~~~~~~i®~ DATE REFERENCE SUBJECT Adoption of Wastewater ~ PAGE NUMBER System Facility Access Fee ,o,~_ 3-31-87 G-7018 nrrl3nance - =------ Recommendation It is. recommended that the City Council 1 Repeal Ordinance No 9805, and 2 Adopt the attached Ordinance, amending Chapter 37, "Water and Sewer", of the City Code of the City of Fort Worth, by providing for and establishing Wastewater System Facility Access Fees, said ordinance to become effective May 1, 1987 Background On June 10, 1986, the City Council adopted Ordinance 9651, implementing water and wastewater system alccess fees with an effective date of October 1, 1986 On June 18, 1986, the City Council and Mayor extended a request to the wholesale wastewater customers to adopl: a similar ordinance implementing system access fees by October 1, 1986 The customer cities contracted with an independent rate consultant to review proposed wastewater rates, and asked for an extension of the deadline from October 1, 1986, to February 1, 1987 In January, 1987, representatives of the customer cities asked for an additional postponement of the implementation date to April 1, 1987 This extension was granted, and Ordinance No. 9805 was adopted on January 27, 1987 The attached ordinance, which relates only to wastewater system facility access fees, contains several revisions which are summarized below, and establishes an implementation date of May 1, 1987 This additional time will allow Fort Worth and its customer cities to finalize the wholesale wastewater contracts which contain a provision requiring each customer city to pay to Fort Worth an access fee for each new and/or enlarged connection made within their jurisdiction This fee would be equal to the fee that Fort Worth will charge its retail customers for the same new and/or enlarged connection Water facility access fees are postponed indefinitely, pending negotiation of wholesale water contract amendments In addition, the revised facility access fee ordinance incorporates the following changes to Ordinance No 9$05 1 Wastewater fees will include an additional customer class, "Industrial - - Monitored Clalss," in recognition of the higher demand for sewer service placed upon the system by monitored class ("high-strength") industrial customers, ~.-~, .. ~ ~_ DATE NUMBER CF. SUt3JECT Adoption of Wastewater PAGE System Facility Access Fee 2 2 3-31-87 G-7018 ____ e °, 2 To minimize the init - ial impacts, wastei~ater fees will be phased-in over the next four years as follows For Fiscal Year Percentage of F'ee in effect be~innin~ October 1st during Fiscal Year 19$6 20% 1987 40% 1988 60% 1989 80% 1990 100% All other sections of the access fee ordinance remain basically the same RAM hl Attachment Ap~`ROVED BY CITY' COUNCIL ~aR ~i ~ . ~ City Se;c;etazy of the City oi! Fort Worth, TexG~ [ a ~~ Adopted Ordinance No~.._._.~_~~ SUBMITTED FOR TH C CITY MANAGER'S ~ DISPOSITION BY COUNCIL. PROCESSED BY OFFICE BY -,,~ _ ^ APPROVED ORIGINATING j OTHER (DESCRIBE) DEPARTMENT HEAD• Ri CITY SECRETARI' FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT p S. Nunn 0202 DATE ,;t~";