The County water operation includes a program for responding to citizens petition requests for water service.

Petitions for water service are reviewed by the staff and administration in the annual budget development process for the upcoming fiscal year, beginning each July 1st, and ending each June 30th. Cost estimates are developed by the Public Works Department, and potential projects are considered and ranked for order of construction, using the following formula:

1. A 100-points ranking system is used, rather than a 10-points system, to avoid confusion for petitioners about where their petition stands, in terms of planned construction. (Example: It is unlikely that the County will have 100 petitions under consideration, but very likely that it could have 10, at any given time. A "passing" score of ‘7' might be confused as a project's placement in the order of planned construction, while a "passing" score of ‘70' probably would not).
2. In order to be considered for construction, a petition project must score a minimum of 70 (seventy) points to qualify for consideration, or as "passing".
3. Upon qualifying for consideration and prior to placement onto the list for the order of construction, all petitioners must pay the standard residential service connection fee (purchase a tap), to pay for design and permitting for the project. In turn the County's will assure the petitioners that the project would be constructed or their money would be refunded, without penalty or additional costs to the petitioners.

Qualifying Criteria:

1. A project must have the potential for a minimum of 1 (one) service connection every 645 (six-hundred, forty-five) linear feet (average).
2. A project must not have an estimated cost to construct of more than $16,467.00 per potential service connection.
3. A project must have an estimated time to a ‘revenue-neutral' position of not longer than 84 (eighty-four) years.

Additional points may be assigned based upon quantifiable improvements in system hydraulics, system water quality, and/or alleviation of any environmental deficiency in the existing water system, in the community receiving the service, etc. These points may be assigned in increments of 5 (five), per improvement. As these projects are reviewed and considered by the Board of Commissioners, additional points may be assigned, at the Board's discretion.

Any request for a project which fails to score the 70-points (seventy points) minimum will be denied.