HB1199: relative to water connection fees.

HB 1199-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED

2003 SESSION

03-2182

05/10

HOUSE BILL 1199-FN-LOCAL

AN ACT relative to water connection fees.

SPONSORS: Rep. Bickford, Straf 68; Rep. Buhlman, Hills 66

COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government

ANALYSIS

This bill limits a municipality's authority to charge a fee for connecting to the municipality's water system.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03-2182

05/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

AN ACT relative to water connection fees.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Municipal Electric, Gas, or Water Systems; Water Rates; Connection Fees Prohibited. Amend RSA 38:28 to read as follows:

38:28 Water Rates.

I. For the defraying of the cost of acquisition, construction, payment of the interest on any debt incurred, management, maintenance, operation, and repair of water systems, or construction, enlargement, or improvement of such systems, the governing body, or the board of water commissioners, if any, may establish a scale of rates to be called water rates, may prescribe the manner in which and the time at which such rates are to be paid and may change such scale from time to time as may be deemed advisable. The amount of such rates may be based upon the consumption of water on the premises connected to the water system, or the number of persons served on the premises, or upon some other equitable basis.

II. Notwithstanding paragraph I and RSA 38:27, if the premises is required to be connected to the water system and no additional infrastructure is required to establish the connection, neither the governing body nor the board of water commissioners shall charge a fee of more than $100 for connecting the premises to the water system.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2005.

LBAO

03-2182

7/10/03

HB 1199-FN-LOCAL - FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT relative to water connection fees.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Department of Environmental Services and New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill will reduce local revenue by $532,000 in FY 2005, and $1,064,000 in FY 2006 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, and local expenditures or state and county revenue.

METHODOLOGY:

The Department states that based on the Department's Fact Sheet on water rates, 53 water systems (about half of total municipal systems) charge an average connection fee of approximately $800 per connection. This bill would cap the connection fee at $100 for new residences required to connect to the water system. The Department estimates a reduction in new connection fees for about 1,520 residences of $700 per year, for a total revenue reduction of $1,064,000. The effective date of the bill is January 1, 2005, resulting in a half year cost in FY 2005.

The New Hampshire Municipal Association states the passage of this bill could increase costs to existing ratepayers in the water system because they would be charged, if the cost is more than $100, for the connection of certain users subsequently required to connect to the water system. It is not possible to know how many communities would be affected, or what the cost would be to the other ratepayers, since the connection cost could be different for each water system.