Water Hookup Fees Raised for Developers in Palmdale

Prevailing in a two-year battle, the Palmdale Water District imposed on local home developers Tuesday a new set of higher water hookup fees intended to pay for a $44-million expansion of the area’s water system.

The 5-0 action by the district’s board of directors will increase by 22% the typical one-time fee charged builders for each new home in the district’s most heavily developed area. That charge, now $1,160 per home, will climb to $1,420, officials said.

Although the fees are charged directly to builders, both industry and water district officials acknowledged that the added cost likely will be passed along to consumers buying new homes in Palmdale, the fastest growing city in the state.

Lowell Felt, water district manager, said the higher fees are needed so the district, which serves a population of about 70,000 centered in Palmdale, can build facilities to serve the area’s explosive growth. “We are just getting to the limit of our capacity,” he said.

The water district first approved a major increase in the hookup fee in March, 1987. But the Antelope Valley chapter of the Building Industry Assn. filed a lawsuit challenging the hike in August, 1987, and that led to a negotiated, partial fee rollback last July.

Conducted Study

Since then, the district conducted a study to determine and justify the new, higher capital improvement charge.

The fee is levied against all new residential, commercial and industrial development in the district. But the new rates vary widely, depending on project size and location. In another fee zone, where heavy development is expected, Felt said the water hookup fee will increase only slightly more than 1%--from the current $1,405 per home to the new rate of $1,424.

This time, local builders are basically satisfied with the outcome, said Rick Norris, executive director of the Antelope Valley chapter of the association. “We never like to see fees go up. But with the proper justification . . . the building industry is willing to support these increases,” Norris said.

The money will fund the water district’s $44-million, seven-year capital improvement program. Felt said that includes $6.5 million to double the capacity of the district’s water treatment plant, more than $2 million to improve the Littlerock Dam and many other projects.