When it comes to new homes connecting into Sedona’s wastewater system — or buy-in fee — the Sedona City Council and staff want things to be more apples to apples or toilets to toilets as the case may be.

Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday, May 25, to set a public hearing date at which time they will consider adoption of a final ordinance changing the city’s wastewater capacity fee rates and rate structure.

The public hearing is set for Tuesday, July 27, while the new rates will be effective Wednesday, Sept. 1.

“We’ve been doing a rate study, looking at the waste­water fees including the capacity fees,” City Finance Director Cherie Wright said. “We thought it would be best to separate the two and bring the capacity fee section, only, tonight because we’re still looking at a wide variety of options on the rest of the fees.”

Councilwoman Jessica Williamson stressed that the discussion that night was not about residential monthly rates. That topic will be addressed at a later date.

Currently, regardless if whether a homeowner has a 1,000-square-foot home with just one bathroom or a 10,000-square-foot home with 10 bathrooms, they are charged the same to connect to the wastewater system: $11,158.24. But since not all residences have the same impact on the wastewater system, the city is seeking to use a supply fixture unit calculation. Wright said this is a more equitable means to determine the potential impact a residence has on the system.

A supply fixture unit is anything in a home which wastewater its way into the system like a tub or toilet. But not all SFUs are same. For example, a toilet is 2.2 SFUs while a shower is 1.4 SFUs.

“The smaller the home the fewer the SFUs and the lower the fee,” a consultant report states. “The intent of the proposed approach is to provide a matching between the demand placed on the sewer system and the cost associated with the capacity required for the development.”

Under the new plan, the five different ranges start with a small home with eight or fewer FSUs that will be charged $4,088 to connect. The high end is 42-55 FSUs, which would cost $37,326 to connect. For even larger homes, which are becoming more common in Sedona, the fee would be $730 per FSU for those with more than 55 FSUs.

In late 2018, council approved a contract with a consulting firm to conduct a wastewater rate study. According to a city report, the consultants presented the rate study results based on the policy direc­tion given in September 2019. During that meeting, council asked the consultants to update the study to provide a modified water-based option, a flat rate option, and an alternative capacity fee option.

In January 2020, the consultants presented additional options and council asked that additional adjust­ments be made to several of the options presented. The consultants were tentatively scheduled to present those changes on May 13, 2020. But due to COVID-19 and constraints on city staff capacity, the study was temporarily put on hold.

“Evaluation of options for the monthly service fees has not been completed,” the report states. “However, due to the less compli­cated nature of the capacity fee options and the potential benefit to forwarding affordable housing priorities, staff requested the consultants address the capacity fee portion of the study first. Due to the significant amount of time since the study was first created, the consul­tants have updated the calculations with the most recent financial data available.”

During previous meetings, council provided the following direction regarding policy decisions related to the capacity fee structure:

■ Currently, the capacity fees vary by customer category and are based on a fee per connection, square foot or other counts applicable to the type of business.

■ The consultants did not agree that the prior methodology provided adequate nexus to the impacts on the wastewater system or adequate comparability between categories.

■ Staff requested a methodology using square footage similar to the approach used in the development impact fee study; however, the consultants did not agree that there would be adequate nexus to the impacts on the wastewater system under this type of methodology either.

■ During the council meeting March 26, 2019, the consultants had presented a methodology basing capacity fees on meter size with options for assessing a ¾-inch meter or a 1-inch meter with the average residential capacity fee.

■ However, as staff and the consultants have worked through the data since that time, there were concerns about how broadly meter sizes would be applied and a supply fixture unit based methodology was recommended at the August 13, 2019 Council meeting.

■ No further options were identi­fied in the Jan. 29, 2020 meeting specific to capacity fees, so staff requested the consultants address this portion of the study separately.