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Steamboat Springs — When the tap fees at Stagecoach increased from $8,000 to $30,000 per new home, the Morrison Creek Metropolitan Water and Sanitation District heard plenty of feedback from residents, landowners and real estate agents. After a month of meetings with residents concerned about the hike, the panel voted to repeal the increases and set fees at $10,000 instead. Although nobody was willing to pay the $30,000 fee while it was enacted, from Jan. 1 to April 9, the water district has collected four tap fees since the fees were lowered, District Manager Steve Colby said. The board members “were certainly concerned that it would make it difficult, in an already tough environment out there, for people to purchase lots and build houses,” he said. The water board was in a bankruptcy agreement for 22 years, ending in August 2000. During that time, the tap fees were held artificially low, at about $1,500, Colby said, and the cost has increased several times since the end of the bankruptcy proceedings. Donald Alperti, president of the board, said the decision to increase the tap fees to $30,000, made at a December meeting, was made in a better economic time. Now that the economy has slowed, he said it was more reasonable to bring the fees back closer to their 2008 level. “That was the primary reason for the increase, because most of the houses being built were $600,000 or $650,000, and if you look at $30,000, it was only 5 percent of the cost. And then … the world fell apart,” Alperti said. Even so, Alperti said tap fee increases again would be discussed at the October board meeting, where board members may decide to increase rates for 2010 in order to raise money for repair and replacement of the 35- to 40-year-old water treatment facilities. “We need the income. The plant is 35 years old, and we need to start raising income so we can start looking at capital (improvements) and, if necessary, we can start looking at a new treatment plant for the district,” he said. Projections for the district show a new treatment plant would cost $8 million to $10 million. Crystal Staepel, one of the five community members who met with the water board to urge a reduction in the fees leading to the April meeting, said she was pleased with the final outcome, even though it is $2,000 higher than it was in 2008. “The amount that it was increased, from $8,000 to $30,000, was pretty drastic, especially considering the economy,” she said. “Things need to remain relatively affordable out here for it to be attractive.” Staepel, owner of Anchor Realty, said maintaining a reasonable cost of building a home in Stagecoach is an important aspect of the community. “Young families like myself that are trying to come out and build a home affordably — that was the biggest reason I believed it needed to be reduced,” she said. Alperti said the tap fees potentially affect 70 people in the area. Colby said the necessary revenue for the capital improvements and repairs likely will come from grants, loans and other future increases in tap and use fees. |
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