AURORA | Home builders in the city could pay significantly less to connect water to new homes if a proposal passes the city council in September.
The Aurora City Council on Monday gave initial approval to a measure that would lower tap fees, or the cost to connect new homes to the city’s water system, for most builders in the city. Water officials said the new rates reflect a recalculated formula that anticipates each home’s demand on the system for the next 20 years based on data they’ve analyzed. An average new home in Aurora could cost nearly $8,000 less to connect if the measure passes Sept. 30.
Pieter Van Ry, manager of water engineering for the city’s water department, told the city council that the new formula would result in lower fees for most homebuilders. Currently new homebuilders pay $24,460 for a single-family detached home, regardless of size, to connect to the city’s water system. The new rate, if approved in September that would take effect Nov. 16, would be $16,428 for a 3- or 4-bathroom, single-family home on an 8,000 sq.-ft. lot. That fee would be further reduced by $1,000 if the home’s front yard is xeriscaped.
“The new rates equitably assess a fee based on their projected usage,” Van Ry said. “Every user under this proposal is responsible to pay for their own demand.”
In addition to single-family detached homes, Van Ry said the tap fees would be reduced for most commercial, single-family attached and multifamily homes as well. Mixed-use developments and industrial developments could see tap fee increases based on their usage. Parks and irrigated open spaces for HOAs could see an increase in tap fees for those areas, depending on the type of landscaping.
Van Ry and other city officials said the proposed decrease in tap fees would not affect the city’s water rates. Those rates are independent from the money needed for infrastructure, they said, and city officials say preliminary estimates indicate they might collect 20 percent less revenue from tap fees next year under the proposed fees.
Councilwoman Molly Markert was skeptical of the reduction in fees.
“I don’t think (the difference) is going to end up in the pockets of homebuyers,” she said. “I think you’re setting up a disparate policy … that doesn’t pay for growth.”
my oh my, reducing tap fees for developers will not have an impact on Aurora’s water rates. The proposed tap fee reduction is to be “revenue neutral” because an increase in irrigation fees and industrial taps over 3 inches will make up the revenue shortfall from reduced tap fees for residential, multifamily, and hotel.
But wait, City Council can mitigate the “excessive industrial tap fees” through incentives. Wonder who will cover the lost revenue with this proposed tap fee reduction. Couldn’t possibly be current water users could it?
The greater issue here is that the cost of water in Aurora is significantly higher than our Denver neighbors and the tap fee comparison is well huge in Denver’s favor. Where a SF tap fee in the Denver City limit would be ~$5k one in Aurora is now ~$25k; talk about a disincentive for development. If Aurora wants to attract quality development fees need to come closer to the competition. This high fee is passed on to the buyer, which in turn is another component in reduced affordable housing choices.