Builders lose court challenge to fees.Byline: Joe Harwood The Register-Guard A Lane County judge has blocked attempts by local home builders to flush To empty the contents of a memory buffer. See buffer. Flush Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s spaniel, subject of a biography. [Br. Lit.: Woolf Flush in Barnhart, 446] See : Dogs (data) flush away increases in sewer SEWER. Properly a trench artificially made for the purpose of carrying water into the sea, river, or some other place of reception. Public sewers are, in general, made at the public expense. Crabb, R. P. Sec. 113. and wastewater development fees adopted by Eugene and Springfield last summer. Alleging that Springfield, Eugene and the county violated vi·o·late tr.v. vi·o·lat·ed, vi·o·lat·ing, vi·o·lates 1. To break or disregard (a law or promise, for example). 2. To assault (a person) sexually. 3. state law and land use policies when the jurisdictions raised fees, the Home Builders Association of Lane County last year took its case to the countyCircuit Court and the Land Use Board of Appeals. The new fees were a relatively minor pain for homeowners, but added a big cost for home builders and people buying new homes. Contractors were hit with a 79 percent increase in the regional wastewater systems development charge - one of the fees levied on developers of new homes. The increased charges are set to finance a $144 million, 20-year capital improvement program to expand treatment capacity for the area's aging sewer treatment facilities. The association argued that a disproportionate dis·pro·por·tion·ate adj. Out of proportion, as in size, shape, or amount. dis  pro·por share of the new
fees would be used to pay for maintenance and replacement of old
equipment rather than adding capacity to serve new development, and that
the replacement of equipment was needed to comply with more strict water
quality ordinances.
The builders also alleged the $144 million in projects would create more capacity than was needed, and the cities and county were forcing builders to cough up cough v. coughed, cough·ing, coughs v.intr. 1. To expel air from the lungs suddenly and noisily, often to keep the respiratory passages free of irritating material. 2. more than their fair share. Another weak link alleged by the association was that flawed flaw 1 n. 1. An imperfection, often concealed, that impairs soundness: a flaw in the crystal that caused it to shatter. See Synonyms at blemish. 2. methodology was used to calculate the new fees. In his opinion, which he issued Friday, Judge Karsten Rasmussen ruled against the association on each of the nine counts it alleged violated state law. Rasmussen ruled that the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission, which administers sewage treatment Sewage treatment Unit processes used to separate, modify, remove, and destroy objectionable, hazardous, and pathogenic substances carried by wastewater in solution or suspension in order to render the water fit and safe for intended uses. facilities for the cities, levied an "equitable" charge on developers of new homes. Rasmussen also found that the fees would be used in a manner consistent with state law, and that the complex methodology used to assess the charges was correct and fair. Roxie Cuellar, director of government affairs for the association, said she was disappointed with the ruling. The home builders' board, which held its monthly meeting Tuesday, voted to appeal Rasmussen's ruling to the Oregon Court of Appeals The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the U.S. state of Oregon. Except for death penalty cases, which are reserved to the Oregon Supreme Court, and tax court cases, it has jurisdiction to hear all civil and criminal appeals from circuit courts, , Cuellar said. She said the association maintains that the area's treatment plant needs upgrades partly because old sewage lines are cracked and allow groundwater to leach leach v. leached, leach·ing, leach·es v.tr. 1. To remove soluble or other constituents from by the action of a percolating liquid. 2. in. That infiltration infiltration /in·fil·tra·tion/ (in?fil-tra´shun) 1. the pathological diffusion or accumulation in a tissue or cells of substances not normal to it or in amounts in excess of the normal. 2. infiltrate (2). during wet months adds tremendous volume to the sewage that must be treated. The association has no problem paying its share for new capacity to serve growth, she said, but doesn't want to pay for fixing existing problems. Dave Jewett, an attorney representing the metro wastewater commission, said he expected to win the case all along. Developers "are not being asked to pay for any of the rehabilitation rehabilitation: see physical therapy. of the existing system," Jewett said. Jewett noted that Eugene and Springfield have ongoing programs not funded by the development fees to fix leaky leak·y adj. leak·i·er, leak·i·est Permitting leaks or leakage: a leaky roof; a leaky defense system. Adj. 1. pipes. The cities expect to spend a combined $15 million replacing old pipes in the next several years, he said. The issues before the state Land Use Board of Appeals - dealing mostly with changes to the area's comprehensive plan needed to adopt the commission's 20-year capital projects list - aren't expected to be decided until August. Jewett said the appeals panel is not bound by the Circuit Court's ruling, "but that doesn't mean they won't pay respect to it." Susie Smith, general manager of the metro wastewater commission, said revenue raised from the fee increases has been going into a special fund in case the commission was ordered to refund the charges. She said the $400,000 in legal fees spent thus far could have been spent on upgrades. The fee increase raised sewer rates in Springfield by $2.67, to $22.46 a month for an average household. In Eugene, the rates went up $2.75, to $16.59 a month. But builders faced a steeper hike. The development charge for a new single-family home jumped from $529 to $947 for the regional portion of the wastewater fee, which goes to the commission. In Eugene, the combined city and regional wastewater fee increased to almost $1,400 for a new home. In Springfield, the combined fees went up to almost $1,700 per home. |
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