The Wilsonville City Council is considering increases to charges paid by developers for sewer and stormwater infrastructure. (Staff File Photo)

Developers looking to come to Wilsonville may need to pay higher fees for improvements to the city’s sewer and stormwater infrastructure.

System development charges are one-time fees paid by developers to help the city fund infrastructure capacity upgrades to accommodate growth, which according to city engineer Zach Weigel helps “ensure growth pays for growth.” Weigel said during the Wilsonville City Council work session on Monday, June 2 that the city’s charges have not been changed in more than a decade and are being updated to accommodate new projects outlined in master plans adopted for sewer and stormwater utilities.

The discussion comes over a month after the council also considered steep increases to sewer and stormwater utility rates, in part to fund projects outlined in the master plans. Consultants and city staff said during the work session that the city already has some of the highest SDC rates compared to other Portland metro areas, including the highest for stormwater charges, but added that the charges are expected to go up regionally as well and are affected by growth rates.

“Some of the highest SDCs in the region are also some of the fastest growing areas in the region,” consultant John Ghilarducci said, adding that Wilsonville is included on that list along with south Hillsboro and Beaverton.

How will the charges change?

Consultants working with the city emphasized during the work session that the proposed increases are the maximum defensible amount the city can charge, and the council could opt for a smaller increase.

Sewer charges for large industrial users can be individualized to the business’s needs based on the different categories of the utility’s usage. According to a presentation, sewer charges could see a steep increase to $15,352 per meter-capacity equivalent (the measurement used for sewers), from the current amount of $7,102.

A staff report said the sewer charges were last updated in 2006, when they were set to $4,068 per Equivalent Residential Unit, or ERU. The fee has been increased for inflation each year since. Larger businesses are charged with a multiplier of the residential unit equivalent.

The current charge for stormwater SDCs is $2,432 per ERU; an increase could bring it up to $3,532 per ERU. According to the presentation, the city expects to add 7,745 more residential unit equivalents that can be charged with stormwater SDCs in the next 20 years.

About 42% of the city’s planned sewer projects can be attributed to growth and are thus eligible for SDCs, coming to about $98.7 million covered in the charges. The rest of the projects must be covered through other funding sources and are estimated to cost $137.8 million.

Planned improvement costs for the stormwater system come to nearly $115 million, but only around $15 million of that is eligible to be funded through SDCs.

Comparisons to other cities, possible effects from increases

When Councilor Katie Dunwell asked how the potential increases to Wilsonville’s SDCs compared to other cities, Weigel said because each city’s system is unique there was no “apples to apples” comparison.

“We do have some challenges that other cities don’t have. We have very poor-draining soils within Wilsonville, whereas … Portland or Milwaukie have very well-draining soils so they don’t need as much infrastructure to deal with runoff from their facilities,” Weigel said, adding that each city is in a different stage of updating fees.

Dunwell also asked if high SDCs would deter developers. City Manager Bryan Cosgrove said the charges could affect the type of developers and businesses that come to town.

“We might lose out on a food processor, but maybe gain somewhere else,” Cosgrove said. He added that if the high charges accommodating growth are not given to developers seeking to build in Wilsonville, the city’s residents would have to shoulder the costs.

The city will issue a 90-day notice for a public hearing before adopting increases to the charges. It will also meet with a list of stakeholders primarily consisting of developers.