Mayor and council approve a standardized wastewater system development charge; public hearing set June 1

The Lafayette City Council on May 4 approved an ordinance to establish a system development charge for connections to the city’s sewage works and to set procedures for capacity requests.

The mayor and staff described the wastewater SDC as the result of roughly three years of work on water and wastewater rate structures and preparations for a $30 million lead service line replacement program. The mayor said the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission had encouraged a move to meter-based system development charges for water and that the wastewater charge is being designed to be "very standardized" and based on meter size so that "it's very consistent whether you're building here in our community or whether you're building over here." He said the new approach replaces the prior per-acre method and is intended to be easier to administer and fairer to ratepayers.

Builders and the Builders Association reviewed the proposal in advance; Mary Ellis, director of the Builders Association of Greater Lafayette, told council the group appreciated the outreach and generally supported the approach. The council adopted the ordinance by roll call, 7-0, and set a public hearing for June 1 at 6:01 p.m. before full implementation.