What are Chandler's water and sewer development fees for a business?

Chapter 38 of the city code sets system development fees, and Appendix A holds the schedule. "Table A: Non-Residential Utility System Development Fees" lists three utility fees for each meter size and type: reclaimed water, wastewater and water. The version on Municode was adopted by Ordinance 5083 on April 4, 2024, and the ordinance's editor's note says the amended fees became effective July 1, 2024. The city's own PDF of the schedule is titled with the same July 1, 2024 date.

The table continues through 8 inch meters. For meters 10 inches and larger, the fee is the 1 inch fee multiplied by the meter's safe maximum operating capacity in gallons per minute divided by 20. Footnote 1 says there are no reclaimed water or wastewater fees for water-only (landscape) connections.

• System development fee: a fee on development that Chapter 38 sets under A.R.S. 9-463.05, Arizona's development fee statute.
• Meter size: under 38-11(A)(1)(c), the actual meter size installed on the lot. If the exact size is not in the table, the city uses the next largest. Where a lot has separate meters, the fees are added up.
• Water-only (landscape) connection: the table's phrase for a landscape connection that receives water only. The code does not define it further.
• Reclaimed water column: a separate fee, which this page reads as applying to a reclaimed water connection. The table does not say so in words.

It covers new development and changes that add demand: a new building, a new or larger meter, a change of use. It does not cover several situations the code names. Under 38-11(B), fees are not owed where they were already paid and the permit has not expired, where an existing building is modified without adding units of demand, increasing its impact or moving to a higher-fee category, or for meters dedicated only to fire flow. The wastewater fee also skips separate meters installed only for irrigation.

A new retail building. The plumber sizes the domestic meter at 2 inches. The water and wastewater fees on that meter size come due when the building permit is issued.

A tenant improvement that needs a bigger meter. An existing building with a certificate of occupancy upsizes its meter. The charge is the new schedule's fees for the proposed development minus the fees for the previous one, and if the result is negative no refund is given.

The edge case: the fire meter. A building needs a larger meter for fire flow after a change of use. Under 38-11(B)(4), the fee is based only on the meter size upgrade required for domestic consumption. A meter used only for fire flow carries none of the three utility fees.

The 24-month lock. For non-residential development, the fee schedule in force at final site plan approval stays in force for 24 months from that approval. If the city lowers a fee in that window, the lower fee applies.

1. 1Get the domestic and fire demand sized before you submit, because the meter size drives all three fees.
2. 2Find your meter's row in Table A on Municode, or in the city PDF of the schedule.
3. 3Ask Development Services (480-782-3000) for the fee calculation for your site and the credit for any existing meter.
4. 4Plan to pay at the building permit, or at the water connection if no building permit is required (38-11(A)(2)).
5. 5For the meter's own installation charge, which is separate, see Chandler's meter installation fee page.

• Myth: The fee is the meter cost. The installation charge in 50-9 is separate from the development fee in Chapter 38.
• Myth: Landscape meters pay sewer fees. Table A footnote 1 says no reclaimed water or wastewater fees for water-only connections.
• Myth: I will get a refund if I shrink the project. Section 38-15(E) says no refund when a development is later demolished or altered to reduce its size or number of units.
• Myth: The fees are the same in every city. Mesa's 2 inch meter carries a water fee of $41,166 and wastewater of $9,649, and Glendale's schedule differs by area.

Appendix A also lists per-square-foot street, fire, police and other fees. This page covers the utility fees only. It explains the code, and the adopted text on Municode governs.