Santa Rosa clarifies rules on lower water, sewer fees

A sharp reduction in water and sewer hookup fees recently approved in Santa Rosa will only benefit developers who obtained building permits after Aug. 7.

Several homebuilders who said they were unaware the city was considering slashing such fees asked the City Council on Tuesday to allow refunds for developers that paid the higher fees before that date.

They argued they could have saved thousands of dollars if they had known the fees were going to drop and could have held off getting permits until after the lower fees applied.

“Who is harmed by adopting an earlier date?” asked Curtis Nichols, vice president of development for consulting firm Carlile Macy.

But on a 4-3 vote, the council agreed with staff that the new fees should apply to permits that were obtained after the date a subcommittee of the Board of Public Utilities formally recommended the new rates to the board.

While three members of the council argued the council should show more flexibility, Mayor Scott Bartley and three other council members backed the Aug. 7 date as the most defensible.

“I reject the accusation that somehow you were blindsided or it wasn’t clearly described,” Bartley said.

Bartley said the fact that only a few developers complained meant the majority were “doing backflips” over the fact fees were dropping.

“It’s typical for Santa Rosa that we take what is a good news story and we beat the bejesus out of it, which is unfortunate,” he said.