System Development Charges (SDCs) are charges assessed on new commercial and residential development and some re-development to pay for the costs of expanding the streets, parks, water system, stormwater system, and sanitary sewers. If you are applying for a building permit for development in Estacada, SDCs are due when the building permit is issued.
SDCs provide a mechanism to allow new growth and protect the City’s existing utility customers from subsidizing new development through higher taxes or utility rates. The purpose of the System Development Charge is to impose a portion of the cost of specified capital improvements upon those developments that create the need for or increase the demands on these capital improvements.
SDCs are updated regularly. The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) outlines what the estimated costs for projects that are SDC eligible. These project costs are used to help calculate the rates for SDCs.
More about SDCs can be found here, including charge tables, rates, and where they are used.
We calculate the capacity of our facilities when a property is annexed into the city. This can be confusing because there may be years between when a property is annexed in and when it’s developed. When the application comes in for residential annexation, based on the highest possible density of use for that property, we use our current usage data to calculate the increase per potential household for when the property is developed. This usage data is sent to our regional representative at DEQ to verify. Based on the calculations from city’s Engineer and DEQ, we can move an application forward if there is capacity. The state also allows a project to move forward if there is a high likelihood that capacity will be available within the next three years. State of Oregon Land Use regulations will not allow the City to deny an application unless we can prove that we do not have, and will not have in the near future, capacity.
