(a) Those property owners who may be compensated in the form of a privilege fee are those that have spent funds on their sewer system which ultimately will benefit other properties served by the sewer system in the watershed.
(b) Built-up area as used in this section means properties previously developed for residential, business or commercial purposes and using septic tanks for sewage treatment. Small isolated vacant lots within built-up areas shall be included in this definition.
(c) Any person who constructs sewer facilities pursuant to this section must comply with the following prerequisite requirements:
(1) All plans must be approved by the urban county engineer and the urban county council, and completed according to urban county government and commonwealth standards.
(2) Prior to approval by the urban county council, the person constructing the sewer facilities must:
(i) Provide written notice by certified mail to all owners of property to be ultimately benefitted, at least fourteen (14) days in advance of the work session date at which the particular privilege fee agreement is to be discussed, said written notice to provide a description of the proposed project, the share of costs to be borne by each property, and the date of the work session at which the agreement is to be discussed; and
(ii) Agree to hold the urban county government harmless from any liability arising from the failure to collect the privilege fee at the time the connection (tap-on) fee is paid.
(3) If the project is within a built-up area, the person constructing the sewer facilities must show evidence that at least fifty-one (51) percent of the owners of the properties to he ultimately benefitted have agreed to share the cost of the sewer facilities.
(d) The shared costs for the construction of the sewer facilities subject to apportionment pursuant to the privilege fee agreement provided for herein shall be based upon all costs of construction, including engineering costs, easement acquisitions and right-of-way costs. The urban county government may institute eminent domain proceedings to obtain necessary easements, and all expenses of such proceedings shall be an included project cost. Participating owners will dedicate easements free of charge.
(e) The shared costs for the construction of the project shall be divided as follows:
(1) Built-up areas: The costs shall be assessed against each property as proposed in the privilege fee agreement and approved by the urban county council for each particular agreement.
(2) Non-built-up areas. The shared costs shall be assessed against each property in the project area based upon acreage or density of proposed land use or both, and the privilege fee agreement shall include the exact percentage of shared costs each property shall be assessed.
(f) The shared costs for the construction of the project shall be paid as follows:
(1) Built-up areas: The costs shall be paid on the date of connection to the system.
(2) Non-built-up areas: The privilege fee agreement shall provide that payment shall be due immediately prior to the signing of a final subdivision plan by the urban county engineer or his designee. In the event that a final subdivision plan is not required, the payment of the fee shall be due prior to the approval of the sanitary sewer plans by the division of engineering. The predetermined privilege fee due will be proportionate to the area in the subdivision plan, or the area for which approval is granted for a sanitary sewer system, if the total property subject to the privilege fee is not included.
(g) The privilege fee agreement approved by the urban county council may, in the discretion of the council, provide that payments as indicated in the agreement shall bear interest at a reasonable rate. The beginning interest date shall be subject to council approval and shall not be sooner than thirty (30) days following the opening of construction bids for the project.
(h) A privilege fee shall apply to property adjacent to an existing benefitted area for a KRS chapter 107 bond issue. The privilege fee in this instance shall be a proration of the principal amount of the bond issue and interest thereon for expenditures for the extra facilities enumerated in subsection (e) above. The privilege fee shall be paid into the redemption fund for said bond issue.
(i) A privilege fee shall apply to property adjacent to an existing benefitted area for a KRS chapter 67A bond issue. The privilege fee in this instance shall be a proration of the principal amount of the bond issue and interest thereon for expenditures for the extra facilities enumerated in subsection (e) above. The privilege fee shall be paid in a proportional share to property owners who have made full cash payments for their assessments, and the remainder of the privilege fee shall be paid into the redemption fund for said bond issue.
(j) Any ordinance of initiation to initiate a waste water collection project under KRS chapter 67A and which affects the properties to be benefitted under any privilege fee agreement shall serve to halt any privilege fee proceedings or installation of sewers as provided under this section.
(Ord. No. 126-83, § 1, 7-21-83; Ord. No. 112-84, § 1, 7-12-84; Ord. No. 164-84, § 1, 9-20-84; Ord. No. 193-86, §§ 1—4, 9-18-86)
Note(s)—Formerly, § 16-60.