The most important milestone of the Wastewater Reclamation Project (the "Sewer System") is almost upon us. Ballots for the Sewer System's Assessment District formation vote are expected to be mailed to Yucca Valley property owners within weeks.  Hi-Desert Water District continues to provide updates and answer any questions that property owners may have about the Sewer Project. To that end, from now until the Assessment District formation vote is complete, I will be presenting this column weekly, instead of monthly.

Am I Paying More Than They Are?

With the release of the Final Assessment District Engineer's Report on February 18, 2015, the maximum assessment to each property owner for the construction of Phase 1 of the project is now set. One question that has come up often is "Why are Phase 1 assessments different (higher) than Phase 2 and 3 assessments?"

Simply put, properties in Phase 1 will be connected to, and using ("deriving benefit from") the system before the other phases are operational.

In the future, when Phase 2 and 3 connect to the system, they will be using the same portions of the treatment plant and collection system that they are being assessed for now. In addition to their current assessment, they will be assessed in the future for the extension and expansion of the system that will be needed to service their properties.

Property owners in Phase 2 and 3 will vote on these additional shared costs when it's time to construct these phases. This will occur once Phase 1 is moving along efficiently. These property owners will be asked to approve the funding (i.e. the "assessment") for the completion of the Phase 2 and 3, once the design and respective cost estimate for those phases have been completed. Property owners in each phase are only financially responsible for parts of the collection system and facility that they will utilize; therefore, Phase 1 will not have an additional assessment to construct Phase 2 and 3.

More Next Week

I will be back next Saturday with more information about the upcoming Assessment District formation vote. As always, HDWD staff is here to answer any and all questions you have. Visit our project website at www.protectgroundwater.org for additional information.