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A. Charges imposed to connect to and receive city water service shall consist of the following:

1. A system development charge determined pursuant to BMC 15.08.250(C), reflecting the demand placed on the system.

2. If applicable, a connection fee for the specific property involved, as determined by the department of public works, to ensure that each connected property bears its equitable share of the cost of the system, plus interest pursuant to subsection (A)(3) of this section.

3. The connection fee herein shall include accrued interest at a rate fixed at the federal reserve rate for a 10-year treasury note, as determined on the recording date of the statement of intent to collect; provided, that interest shall only be accrued for a period not to exceed 10 years; and provided further, that no interest shall be collected within the first 90 days of recording of the statement of intent to collect; and provided further, that the aggregate amount of the interest shall not exceed the equitable share of the cost of the system allocated to a given property owner.

4. Any applicable private latecomer charges and interest.

B. System development charge credits are available and shall be calculated as follows:

1. If an existing service is exchanged for a larger service, credit shall be given for the smaller service at the current rate.

2. No refunds will be given for exchange or reactivation to smaller size services.

3. If an abandoned service is reactivated, credit shall be given for the last service size in use. Flat rate single-family service will be considered a five-eighths-inch service. Value of credit shall be current charge for that size service irrespective of whether a fee was ever collected.

4. The system development charge for single-family residential shall be subject to review by the public works department using the Uniform Plumbing Code and the AWWA “Sizing Water Service Lines and Meters”; except that standby fire protection services shall be sized based upon fire flow requirements determined by the fire department and not included in the calculation of the system development charge pursuant to BMC 15.08.250(C).

C. Upon application by the owner, a partial exemption of not more than 80 percent of the system development charge imposed by this chapter may be granted to a low-income housing development, as defined below:

1. The director of planning and community development, after consultation with the director of public works, may grant an exemption to a low-income housing project listed in an annual consolidated action plan approved by city council.

2. The city council may grant an exemption to a low-income housing project not included in an annual consolidated action plan.

3. The decision to grant, partially grant or deny an exemption shall be based on the public benefit of the specific project, the extent to which the applicant has sought other funding sources, the financial hardship to the project of paying the system development charge, the impacts of the project on public facilities and services, and the consistency of the project with adopted city plans and policies relating to low-income housing.

4. An exemption granted under this subsection must be conditioned upon requiring the developer to record a covenant approved by the director of planning and community development that prohibits using the property for any purpose other than for low-income housing. At a minimum, the covenant must address price restrictions and household income limits for the low-income housing, and require that, if the property is converted to a use other than for low-income housing as defined in the covenant, the property owner must pay the applicable system development charge in effect at the time of any conversion. Covenants required by this subsection must be recorded with the Whatcom County auditor.

5. “Low-income housing” means housing with a monthly housing expense that is no greater than 30 percent of 80 percent of the median family income adjusted for family size, for Bellingham, as reported by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

D. The system development charge imposed by this chapter may be reduced for qualifying projects in targeted urban villages pursuant to BMC 20.37.030. [Ord. 2015-12-048 § 3; Ord. 2015-07-029 § 4; Ord. 2012-05-025 § 2; Ord. 2011-03-008; Ord. 2004-11-081 § 11; Ord. 2002-01-002; Ord. 10571 § 1, 1994; Ord. 9846 § 4, 1988; Ord. 9738 § 1, 1987; Ord. 9371 § 34, 1984].