To serve you better, we've assembled a list of our customers' most frequently asked questions. If you don't find your answer here, feel free to contact us.
Why do I have a previous balance when I know I sent in my payment?
We may have received it after the due date or we may not have received it at all. Call our office and we will help you solve the problem.
I only use my property at Priest Lake occassionally, why do I have to pay for sewer service for the entire year?
Outlet Bay Sewer District plans our capacity for peak usage. Our operational costs and infrastructure maintenace is required for our facilities year round, regardless of the seasonality of use. We also do not have a metering system on each subscriber's location, so our costs are divided equally amongst all of our system subscribers.
What is a System Development Charge and when is this fee applicable?
The Outlet Bay Sewer District System Development Fee (or Charge) or SDC, is a fee that is assessed whenever a new parcel is created within our district. This fee pays for 'buying in' to our existing infrastructure that our present customers have already paid for. In addition, this fee pays for any capital improvements to our system that are necessary to support this additional connection to our infrastructure.
Presently, our SDC is $20,000.00 per Equivalent Residential Unit or ERU. Typically, a residential property is evaluated at 1 ERU. Higher density housing and commercial use properties are assessed a higher ERU count per our Commercial Rate structure document.
This fee is assessed when a new parcel is recorded in Bonner County when that parcel is within our service area.
For example, consider an existing residential parcel that is sub-divided into several new residential parcels. Each of the new parcels created would be assessed an SDC for 1 ERU per parcel.
Please note, that SDC's are non-refundable and non-transferrable. Take for example the opposite scenario from the example above, a person who combines two or more parcels into a single parcel will not receive a refund for any SDC's paid previously.
What is the Hook Up Fee and when is it assessed?
The Outlet Bay Sewer District Hook Up Fee is a one-time fee that is paid to the district at the time that a person applies for connection to our infrastructure. This fee covers the administrative costs of establishing your account, review and oversight of the installation of the required equipment to be installed by the parcel owner, as well as the labor for physically connecting the customer's equipment to our lines. Please note that the cost and installation of the equipment (including piping, pumps, tanks, etc.) required to connect to our system are the responsibility of the parcel owner.
Currently, the Hook Up Fee is $3,600.00 and is due when the application is submitted to our office.
