Florence considers measure to finance tap fee payments

FLORENCE — Florence is considering a measure that would divide the cost of a new water tap fee into installments after the price for new tap connections tripled for some customers.

At a recent meeting, city council discussed financing payments as long as three years for any taps on existing, owner-occupied residential construction. To qualify, a home must have been built by Jan. 1.

Florence’s water tap fees for residential customers outside the city recently tripled to $2,550 for city-installed taps and $1,650 for owner-installed taps. The city increased the fees as well as water and sewer rates to help raise money for a new $100 million wastewater treatment plant.

The city is working to be fair because it knows not everyone has the money on hand to pay for a water tap, Florence Mayor Frank Willis said.

But out-of-city residents still will ultimately have to pay the same fee on top of increasing water and sewer rates, which are higher outside city limits, said Cheryl Floyd, executive officer of the Home Builders Association of the Greater Pee Dee Inc.

Through financing, a tap fee would cost $73 a month, in addition to the water usage bill, for the full three years if the tap is installed by the city, said city manager David Williams at a recent meeting.

That would add up to a total cost of $2,628, with interest.

The monthly payments would be lower if a private plumber installed the tap, but of course the resident must pay the plumber rather than the city.
City officials hope the cost will entice more people to sign onto the city’s water system, although they’re unsure if it will, Willis said.

The city conducts sign-up drives along certain roads to see if the revenue from an extension of water lines in the area would compensate for the cost. Essentially, if the city spends $100,000 extending water lines, it needs to get $100,000 back.

The results of that test, however, often find too few people willing to tie on to city water, city officials have said.

The city sometimes makes administrative decisions on a case-by-case basis on whether to allow tap fee payments in installments for those with economic hardships, although it doesn’t advertise the practice, Williams said.

Florence County Council members in April asked city officials to consider allowing residents to pay the tap fees in monthly installments, possibly over years. The city bought Florence County’s 241 miles of water lines in 2002.

Florence County Councilman Russell Culberson said he hadn’t heard any new proposals regarding the tap fees. But he said he still thinks it’s unfair for county residents who will never have city sewer to pay higher fees and rates to fund a new plant that won’t benefit them because city sewer services likely will never reach their areas of the county.

“I think it’s wrong, and I think it’s illegal,” Culberson said. “I think they should take a good, long look at what they’re doing to the people who live outside the city limits of Florence.”