During the 2017 session, the North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 436 in order to give water and sewer service providers the authority to charge fees for system development and capacity. Before implementing a system development fee schedule, service providers are required to complete a supporting analysis to document and detail the establishment of fees.
A system development fee schedule was adopted by the Carthage Town Council in 2019, said the Town of Carthage on its website. The adopted fees included a $2.63/gallon value for water system capacity and a $6.70/gallon fee for sewer system capacity. The adopted fees included the incremental cost of a project to increase sewer system capacity, and this project was recently completed. Therefore, the development fees need to be revised to update system values and capacity as well as to update incremental costs for additional future projects. The following report describes the methodology and assumptions used in establishing the system development fee for the water and sewer systems.
View the 2024 SDF Supporting Analysis Report (PDF, 674KB)
What is a System Development Fee (SDF)?
North Carolina Statute Chapter 162A defines System Development Fee as a charge or assessment for service, including service provided pursuant to a wholesale arrangement between a water and sewer authority organized under Article 1 of Chapter 162A of the General Statutes and a local governmental unit, imposed with respect to new development to fund costs of capital improvements necessitated by and attributable to such new development, to recoup costs of existing facilities which serve such new development, to recoup costs incurred by a local government unit to purchase capacity in, or reserve capacity supplied by, capital improvements or facilities owned by another local government unit, or a combination of those costs, as provided in this Article.
Do System Development Fees affect my utility bill?
No, SDFs are assessed during development, such as a new house of commercial building, not to a regular utility customer.
Public Comment Period
Please utilize one of the following ways to submit your comments on the SDF analysis prior to the deadline of May 31.
- Submit your comments using our online form here.
- Download, print and return a public comment form (PDF, 72KB).
- Visit Town Hall and request a printed public comment form to fill out.
For questions, please contact the Public Works Director at (910) 947-2331.
Contributed.
