Utility
Billing (Continued)
Customer
Service is located in the main lobby on the first floor of the City Hall (NE corner
of 5th & Rood). We are open Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 5:30pm.
Contact us at 970-244-1579.
New Construction/Connection to the
System
 If
you are building a new residential or commercial building
and connecting to the City's water, sewer and/or Ridges irrigation
system, a connection fee is due.
A connection fee is comprised of a Tap Fee and/or a Plant Investment
Fee (PIF). A Tap Fee covers
the actual time and material costs to make a connection, and
a Plant Investment Fee
is a one-time, new connection fee
that is intended to recover the cost of constructing the system.
In other words, the system has been built to serve
future users. As those future users connect to the system,
they have to pay back their fair share of the system construction
costs. Plant Investment Fees are calculated based on the expected
impact of a new connection to the system. Sometimes additional
plant investment fees are due when the use of an existing
connection changes.
SEWER CONNECTION FEE: Sewer connection fees are determined
based on the expected impact of that connection to the system.
Because you hire your own contractor to make the physical
connection to the sewer main line, the connection fee is made
up of a PIF only. The sewer connection fee for a single
family home is currently $2,000 (effective 1/1/2007). Additional tap fees
are due when the home is located in a
separate sanitation district.
Note: Every five years, the City (as the manager of the system) completes a comprehensive rate study to verify that rates are adequate to allow for the maintenance and expansion of the sewer system. The latest study that was conducted last year indicated that the current value of the PIF in this system is $3,220. The County Commissioners and the City Council (the system is jointly owned by both the City and the County) decided to implement the increase only to $2,000 at this time. They will continue to discuss the recommendations of the rate study and may possibly authorize another increase and/or a schedule of increases.
The monthly
sewer fee for a single family home is currently
$14.25. Again, if the home is located within a separate
sanitation district then there is an additional
monthly sewer fee paid to the district.
Multiple family or commercial
connection fees are calculated by formulas. These formulas
use a factor called EQU (equivalent
residential unit) which is then multiplied by the minimum
connection fee of $2,000 to get the total sewer connection
fee. The EQU factor is also used to calculate the monthly
sewer service charge ($14.25 per EQU). Some examples of those
calculations are listed below.
 Please
Note - The calculations below are intended for example
purposes only. For a specific quote,
contactDebi Overholt, Customer Service Supervisor at 970-244-1520.
| Sewer
Connection Fees (Example Calcuations) |
| DESCRIPTION |
FORMULA |
|
EXAMPLE |
| Multi-Family |
.72 X # of units = EQU |
|
25 Unit
Apartment Building: .72
X 25 = 18 EQUs X
$2,000 = $36,000 sewer connection fee or PIF |
| Hotel-No Restaurant,
No Kitchen |
.36 X # of rooms = EQU |
|
200
room hotel: .36 X
200 = 72 EQUs X $2,000 =
$144,000 sewer connection fee or PIF |
| Retail Store |
.35 X (square feet/1,000) = EQU |
|
Store
with 2,000 square feet: .35
X (2,000/1,000) = .7 EQU
Minimum 1 EQU or $2,000
sewer connection fee or PIF |
| Laundromat |
.90 X # of washing machines = EQU |
|
15 machine laundromat: .90
X 13.5 EQUs X $2,000
= $27,000 sewer connection fee or PIF |
|
For multi-family
or commercial sewer connections, the City does have
an alternative calculation based on water consumption.
For additional information, please contact Debi Overholt at 970-244-1520. |
WATER CONNECTION FEE: Water connection fees are determined
based on the size of your service line and meter. City crews
make all physical connections to the water main line; and
therefore, the connection fee includes a tap fee and a PIF.
Most single family homes use
a 3/4" service line/water meter and the fee currently
is $1,000.
 |
Water
Connection Fees |
| SIZE |
TAP |
PIF |
TOTAL CONNECTION
FEE |
| 3/4" |
$700 |
$300 |
$1,000 |
| 1" |
$875 |
$375 |
$1,250 |
| 1.5" |
$2,050 |
$900 |
$2,950 |
| 2" |
$2,900 |
$1,250 |
$4,150 |
| 3" |
$2,975 |
$6,875 |
$9,850 |
| 4" |
$12,850 |
$5,550 |
$18,400 |
| 6" |
$19,850 |
$8,550 |
$28,400 |
FIRELINE CONNECTIONS will be billed on a time and material basis. For more information please contact Pipeline Maintenance at 970-244-1572.
RIDGES IRRIGATION CONNECTION FEE: The Ridges Irrigation
connection fee is a flat $260 for any
new connection to the system. Your contractor makes
the connection, so the irrigation connection fee is made up
of a PIF only.
|
