WQ advisory board: Wilson sewer Phase 4 needs mandatory hookups for SPET value

Teton County’s Water Quality Advisory Board is urging the Board of County Commissioners to tie any SPET (Specific Purpose Excise Tax) funding for the Wilson Sewer District’s proposed Phase 4 expansion to mandatory sewer connections for nearby properties.

In a March 21 letter included in the commissioners’ April 21 correspondence compilation, the board said it supports funding Phase 4 but only with conditions requiring the district to compel hookups for properties within 400 feet of an available sewer line—authority the letter cites under state law. The board reiterated its earlier recommendation of $2 million (vs. the district’s $3.31 million request) and said the connection mandate is key to achieving the water-quality benefits commensurate with the public cost. Board Correspondence and Public Comment Compilation

The letter warns that if the district pares Phase 4 down to a Fall Creek Road-only buildout serving as few as 12 properties, and commissioners still fund the project at the levels discussed, the SPET cost could reach about $187,500 per property served, “without any assurance that the properties will, in fact, connect.” With the board’s hookup conditions, it argues, the county could leverage Phase 4 plus existing unconnected properties to reach far more actual connections—lowering the implied public cost per connection and improving the project’s cost-effectiveness.