What is SAC?
The Metropolitan Council’s Environmental Services division (MCES) provides sanitary sewer treatment for wastewater generated from properties in the City of Bloomington and the Twin Cities metropolitan area. A “Sewer Availability Charge” or SAC is collected from each property based on the amount of wastewater that it is anticipated to generate. This fee contributes to the construction and maintenance of the regional sewer system and sanitary sewage treatment facilities.
The one-time SAC charge is collected by the City of Bloomington when a building permit is issued for either a new building or a remodeling permit or when a connection permit is issued for an existing building connecting to the sanitary sewer system for the first time. One SAC unit equals 274 gallons of maximum potential daily wastewater flow capacity. Commercial buildings pay a SAC fee based on the estimated potential capacity of wastewater.
The City of Bloomington provides this program to help lower the financial hurdle to new and expanding businesses, allowing for SAC fees to be paid over time instead of all at once.
Deferral structure
The structure of the deferral includes, but is not limited to, the following requirements:
- The SAC determination for the business is minimum of two (2) units and a maximum of ten (10) units prior to SAC credits.
- The property must be located in Bloomington.
- The deferral term is five (5) years.
- Interest rate will be fixed at 2.06% (subject to change annually).
- A down payment, equal to 20% of the total fee for SAC after credits are applied, plus the first monthly payment, is due at the time of application.
- Property owner and/or business owner will be billed on a monthly basis.
- To be eligible for the program, the property owner and/or business owner must complete an application and execute the SAC deferred payment agreement.
