TOWN OF WEAVERVILLE – WATER SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT FEES
As allowed by law, the Town of Weaverville began charging water system development fees on July 1, 2018, and has undertaken an analysis in order to continue to assess those fees on new development.
WHAT IS A SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT FEE?
A system development fee includes any charge or assessment for services imposed on new development to fund costs of capital improvements necessitated by and attributable to such new development (incremental costs), to recoup costs of existing facilities which serve such new development (buy-in costs), or a combination of those costs (combination costs).
WHAT PROCEDURES MUST THE TOWN FOLLOW TO SET THIS FEE?
Article 8 of Chapter 162A of the NC General Statutes, entitled “System Development Fees,” provides legal authority for municipalities to charge system development fees for its water systems as long as conditions are met and statutory procedures are followed.
There are five steps that the Town must follow in order to comply with the procedural requirements to establish a water system development fee:
Step 1: Supporting Analysis and Fee Calculation
Step 2: 45-Day Public Comment Period
Step 3: Public Hearing
Step 4: Town Adoption
Step 5: Publication of Adopted Fee
HOW IS THE SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT FEE CALCULATED?
SUPPORTING ANALYSIS AND FEE CALCULATION
A supporting analysis must be undertaken by a qualified professional firm to determine the maximum system development fee that the Town can charge new development for water system development fees. The Town engaged the firm of Willdan Financial Services (“Willdan”) to perform this work. That analysis has been completed and the Willdan System Development Fee Draft Report was presented to Town Council on February 27, 2023, and is now available for public inspection at Town Hall and on the Town’s website.
CLICK HERE FOR WILLDAN DRAFT REPORT
This draft report provides calculations of the maximum allowable system development fees that the Town could charge under each of the following methods: buy-in cost method, incremental cost method, and combination method. It should be noted that the Town can set system development fees that are lower than the maximum fee calculated in the report.
HOW CAN I SUBMIT A COMMENT?
45-DAY PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
Town Council and Willdan request the public’s input on the system development fees as established in the Willdan System Development Fee Draft Report. Comments can be made via email to public-comment@weavervillenc.org from March 1, 2023 through April 24, 2023, at 5:00 pm. Comments received after that date may not be taken into consideration when the final draft of the report is completed by Willdan. TO MAKE A COMMENT PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO: public-comment@weavervillenc.org
IF YOU WISH TO MAKE A COMMENT AND DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO EMAIL PLEASE COME BY TOWN HALL (30 S. MAIN ST., WEAVERVILLE) AND SOMEONE CAN ASSIST YOU.
PUBLIC HEARING
The Town has scheduled a public hearing on the Willdan System Development Fee Draft Report and water system development fees for the Town of Weaverville to be held in the Community Room and Council Chambers at Town Hall, 30 South Main Street, Weaverville, NC, on April 24, 2023, at 6 p.m., or as soon thereafter as Council can reach the matter. The public is requested to attend the public hearing and submit comments during the hearing if they haven’t already done so.
WHEN WILL TOWN COUNCIL ADOPT A SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT FEE?
Town Council anticipates taking action to establish water system development fees at its regular meeting on June 26, 2023. Any system development fee adopted by Town Council will be effective on July 1, 2023, and will be published, along with other fees, in the Town’s Fee Schedule.