VICTOR — The Victor City Council took a step on Oct. 14 toward connection fees of up to $25,020 for each new home that hooks up to city water and sewer.
Idaho lets a city charge a one-time connection fee so that a new home pays its share of the water and sewer system already in the ground. The city's staff report says the fee must be "reasonable, supported by the value and capacity of the existing systems, and dedicated to utility purposes rather than general City expenses." A city can't use it to make money.
So a city sets the fee with a study, the arithmetic that ties the charge to the system it buys into. Victor has two, one for water and one for sewer, from its consulting engineers, Sunrise Engineering, using a method the Idaho Supreme Court upheld in a 1991 case from Hailey, according to the studies. On Oct. 14, the council voted to adopt both and directed staff to prepare the documents needed to adopt the fees they calculate. Putting the fees into effect takes another council vote.
