PREVIOUS Computational Alternatives

Changes in Authority Procedures

Act 57 introduces new procedures and definitions to address the reimbursement component of the tapping fee. This aspect of the original legislation has been a source of much discussion and misunderstanding over the years by both authorities who must administer refund procedures and the developers who seek reimbursements. Some misunderstandings will be eliminated by the Service Line definition. Others will be eliminated by a new provision that requires every reimbursement component to be substantiated by a written agreement and specifies that this component can only be collected until all payments required by the agreement have been made to the party receiving the reimbursement.

Act 57 also introduces a disputes resolution procedure, which established an arbitration mechanism to address instances when a developer claims the review fees charged by an authority's professional advisors for various development related services are excessive. The act establishes specific actions that an authority must take once such claims are made and provides for the payment of the cost of the review mechanism based upon the merits of the developer claim. This section will likely be of particular interest to the authority's solicitor since it generally follows procedures that have been established to address disputes between developers and municipalities.

Additional minor changes to the procedures for adopting connection fees, customer facilities fees, and tapping fees are also included in the act. Essentially, the new language describes the mechanism by which these fees are to be adopted, the need to incorporate the calculations supporting the fees into the resolution, and the identification of the manner in which each part of the tapping fee was calculated and the maximum fee allowable for each part.

NEXT Other Provisions

© 2008 Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc.