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AN ORDINANCE relating to the capacity charge rate structure; and amending Ordinance 11034, Section 5, as amended, and K.C.C. 28.84.050.
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PREAMBLE:
King County imposes a wastewater connection charge, known as the capacity charge, on users of the county's wastewater facilities when the user connects, reconnects, or establishes a new service to sewer facilities of a city or special purpose district that discharges into the county's wastewater facilities.
RCW 35.58.570 specifies the capacity charge is a monthly charge reviewed and approved annually by the council, and the charge shall be based upon the cost of the wastewater facilities' excess capacity necessary to provide wastewater treatment for new users to the system, such that the new users bear their equitable share of the cost of the system.
Further, RCW 36.94.140 requires that the capacity charge rate be uniform within the same classification of customers.
Since the early 1990s, the county has established separate classifications of customers including single detached dwelling units, multifamily structures with two to four units, multifamily structures with five or more dwelling units and accessory dwelling units.
The capacity charge rate structure for assigning charges to customer classes should be periodically evaluated to ensure such charges continue to reflect the relative impact on wastewater system capacity.
In 2017, King County's wastewater treatment division of the department of natural resources and parks initiated a study of the capacity charge rate structure given the changes that are occurring in terms of types of development and housing stock.
A key finding of the study was that wastewater generation, on average, increases with the square footage of the dwelling.
Also in 2017, the metropolitan water pollution abatement advisory committee created a capacity charge rate structure work group to provide technical expertise to the county on the rate study and make any recommendations to the...

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