Fees Will Be Higher To Hook Up To New Sewer System

Thu., Nov. 2, 1995

Bruce Krasnow Staff Writer

North suburban residents who connect to the county’s new sewer interceptor will pay higher charges than those who hook onto the existing system.

Public Works Director Dennis Scott said the current sewer rate structure never included the $9 million interceptor line, which includes five miles of pipe and two new pump stations.

In order to pay for the new project, which reaches past the Little Spokane River to Midway Road, residents living in the north suburban areas and others who connect to new sewer lines would pay higher fees than what are now on the books.

Those fees are not yet established but will be decided by county commissioners soon, Scott said.

Utility officials are proposing two options to help pay debt on the new north interceptor. One would be an increase in the sewer connection charge for all residents from $555 to $1,650.

Another would be a charge of $2,500 to all north suburban property owners who connect to the new system.

Either way, Scott said, those that use the new backbone sewer systems will pay more than those who connect to existing sewer infrastructure.

Based on 2,000 new north suburban connections, either fee structure would raise $5 million, or about half the cost of the project.

The rest of the debt payments would come out of the real-estate excise tax, but there should still be money in that fund for other projects as well, Scott said.

, DataTimes

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