The North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 436 in July 2017, amending Chapter 162A of the General Statutes by adding “Article 8, System Development Fees.” This amendment was enacted as “An Act to Provide for Uniform Authority to Implement System Development Fees for Public Water and Sewer Systems in North Carolina and to clarify the Applicable Statute of Limitations.” As a requirement of the amended General Statute, the City of Burlington employed Stantec, a professional engineering and financial consulting firm, to complete a system development fee analysis. The statute specifies that a written analysis be performed to calculate a system development fee, based upon prescriptive criteria.
Prior to considering adoption of the professional analysis, House Bill 436 requires that a local governmental unit post the analysis on its webpage for public review and comment. You can access the analysis here. The public review and comment period shall extend for a minimum of 45 days (from March 28, 2018) and provide the means for written comments to be submitted to the preparer of the professional analysis. Submit your comments online here or by mail to: City of Burlington System Development Fee Evaluation, Attn: Bob Patterson, P.O. Box 1358, Burlington, NC 27215
The proposed System Development Fee structure would replace the current water and sewer development fee structure for new development (residential and non-residential). These fees do not affect existing water and sewer customers.