Opinion ID: 1450853
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the validity of water connection and park improvement fees

Text: The district court ruled that the advance collection of the water connection fee was rendered illegal by the combined effect of U.C.A., 1953, § 10-8-38 and § 17-6-22. Section 10-8-38 empowers the city, for the purpose of defraying costs of construction or operation of a sewer system, to require mandatory hookup and payment of charges when a sewer is available and within 300 feet of any property containing a building used for human occupancy. Section 17-6-22 provides that a municipal corporation which contracts with an improvement district for sewage services shall have authority to make service charges to parties who connect to its sewer system. If the municipality also operates a waterworks system, the section provides that these charges may be combined with the charge made for water furnished by the water system and may be collected and the collection thereof secured in the same manner as that specified in Section 10-8-38, Utah Code Annotated 1953. Because § 10-8-38 does not authorize the charging of a sewer connection fee in the case of vacant lots, and because § 17-6-22 provides that the city may collect water fees in the same manner as § 10-8-38 authorizes for the collection of sewer fees, the combination of these two statutes is urged to forbid cities from collecting water fees in circumstances not authorized for sewer fees. This does not follow. Section 17-6-22 is permissive, not mandatory. It poses no statutory prohibition against the collection of a water connection fee from a subdivider for each lot in a subdivision at the time the subdivision is hooked up to the city water system. The validity of a sewer connection fee to raise money to enlarge and improve a sewer system was sustained by this Court in Home Builders Ass'n v. Provo City, 28 Utah 2d 402, 503 P.2d 451 (1972), discussed hereafter. In a decision issued after the trial court acted in this case, we sustained a municipality's power to withhold the privilege of city water service until a landowner had paid a valid municipal sewer connection fee. Rupp v. Grantsville City, Utah, 610 P.2d 338 (1980). In two other decisions issued after the trial court acted in this case, we sustained a municipality's requirement that subdividers dedicate a portion of subdivision land for recreational purposes (or pay cash in lieu) as a condition of final approval of their plat. Call v. City of West Jordan, Utah, 606 P.2d 217 (1979). On rehearing in this same case, we held that the reasonableness of the dedication or cash requirement in a particular case was a question of fact that must be resolved at trial. Call v. City of West Jordan, Utah, 614 P.2d 1257 (1980). These four decisions have resolved the legality of water connection and park improvement fees designed to raise funds to enlarge and improve sewer and water systems and recreational opportunities, as well as the legality of conditioning water hookups or plat approval on their collection. However, these decisions leave open the question of the reasonableness of any individual fee charged or land dedication required. This question of reasonableness must be resolved on the facts in each particular case. We therefore reverse both judgments and remand the entire case for trial on the reasonableness of the fees the city has imposed in this case. Because this case is being remanded for trial, it is appropriate for this Court to elaborate on the constitutional standards of reasonableness that should govern the validity of subdivision charges such as these.