Spokane Municipal Code

Title 13 Public Utilities and Services

Chapter 13.03 Sewers

Article VIII. Wastewater General Facilities Charge

Section 13.03.0730 Wastewater General Facilities Charge General Provision – Long Connections

1. There is hereby imposed a wastewater General Facilities Charge (GFC). The GFC is a utility rate surcharge assessed at the time of connection or service upgrade. Its purpose is to defray costs to the general utility system as a result of new system demand, such as costs of providing increased system capacity for new or increased demand and other capital costs. The GFC program is separate from local improvement districts, latecomer charges or other special connection charges.

2. The GFC charge is collected at the time of connection, time of application for a building permit, or other time as deemed most administratively convenient by the director and shall be considered a contribution to capital and not a cost of providing service.

1. The amount of the wastewater GFC for wastewater (sewer) utility connections will be based on water meter size for domestic water service to the premises, since water meter size provides a measure of domestic water use and, correspondingly, wastewater generated.

2. In case of a planned unit development, binding site plan, or other circumstance where a new direct customer connection is not made to the sewer system, but where there is the effect of a new dwelling unit or customer demand increase, as where new dwelling units are added to a master meter account, a GFC shall be assessed in like manner as if the demand upgrade were through a direct new customer connection unless the applicable GFC charge was previously included in the purchase of the master meter. New dwelling units shall include without limitation, accessory dwelling units (ADU) and other residential units co-located on a property as these additions have a direct impact on the utility system.

3. For water service connections not included in a master meter account, any existing connection should be counted toward the GFC such that the charge is only for the differential between existing and new meter sizes. A customer demand increase or addition of new units that does not require an increase in meter size does not incur a GFC.

4. For those situations where an existing customer requests an increase or larger meter size, the GFC will be assessed based on the current cost difference between the existing meter size and the new size requested.

5. If there is an existing water service or new water service installed to serve a parcel and more than one City meter is installed to serve units on the parcel, a GFC will be assessed for each additional City meter based on size and current GFC costs.

3. Long Connection Option.

1. When a customer near an area with existing utility service desires to connect to such utility service where lines have not yet been extended for direct service to the customer’s area or property (a “long connection”), the director may allow a long connection to existing facilities. The decision to allow a long connection is discretionary, considering the needs of the existing customers, the limits of the current system or any other appropriate factors.

2. As a condition of a long connection, the customer must satisfy any conditions imposed by the director, including obtaining any necessary easements, payment of all costs of additional installations, and payment of a non-refundable charge determined by the director based on engineering principles estimated to be what the customer would be required to pay if connection were deferred until direct service became available.

1. Such charge may be accepted as a nonrefundable prepayment for the size of the connection furnished.

2. This option may also be applied to upgrades.

Date Passed: Monday, November 20, 2023

Effective Date: Tuesday, March 5, 2024

ORD C36461 Section 1