Sanitary sewer connection fees.
Denver Revised Municipal Code § 56-92.5
in effectSec. 56-92.5. - Sanitary sewer connection fees.
(a) Sanitary sewer services availability fees.
(1) The sanitary sewer services availability fee (SAFE) for making new or altered connections from lots, parcels of land, buildings or premises directly or indirectly into the sanitary sewerage system of the city shall be the responsibility of, and paid by or on behalf of, such lots, parcels of land, buildings or premises, and the owners thereof, prior to the manager issuing a sewer use and drainage permit for such lots, parcels of land, buildings or premises, computed at the rate of four hundred ten dollars ($410.00) for each single-family residential equivalent.
(2) Sanitary sewer connection fees are required for all new or altered direct or indirect connections to the Denver or metro sanitary sewer systems as well as for all changes in the use of the sanitary sewer system or of an existing connected building or premises.
(3) Except to the extent otherwise provided by subsection 56-108(e), receipts from the SAFE shall be recorded, accounted for in, and restricted to payments from the sanitary sewer capital improvements fund.
(b) Metro Wastewater Reclamation District tap fee.
(1) The service agreement between the city and the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District (metro), as amended, city clerk's filing no. 85852, requires that metro provide for the transportation, treatment and disposal of sewage generated within the city. The agreement further provides for the collection and payment of a tap fee by the city to metro prior to any new or altered connection being made to the sanitary sewerage system within the city, in such amount as may be fixed by the board of directors of metro.
(2) The metro tap fee for connecting lots, parcels of land, buildings, or premises directly or indirectly into the sanitary sewer system of the city (or metro) shall be the responsibility of, and paid by on or behalf of, such lots, parcels of land, buildings or premises, and the owner thereof, prior to the manager issuing any permit for such lots, parcels of land, buildings or premises, at the rate established by the board of directors of Metro for each single-family residential equivalent.
(c) For the purposes of this section.
(1) A single-family residential equivalent (SFRE) is equal to one (1) single-family unit which means a building or structure used or designed to be used as only one (1) residential unit (including a detached dwelling (single-family house) and a mobile home); each residential unit in a duplex; and each residential unit having water service separately connected to the water main, in a building or structure with three (3) or more residential units.
(2) Residential unit means a room or group of rooms which includes or is designed to include kitchen and bathroom facilities and in which one (1) or more persons could reasonably reside on a permanent and nontransient basis. (Kitchen facilities include any or all of the following: sink, range, stove, conventional oven, microwave oven. Bathroom facilities include any or all of the following: toilet, bath, shower.) Notwithstanding the above, a room or group of rooms containing wastewater fixtures in addition to those used or intended to be used in normal residential activities shall not be considered a residential unit.
(3) An altered connection is any direct or indirect sewer connection which serves a building or structure in which the number of single-family units is increased, single-family units are converted to other than single-family units, or where there is an increase in the size of the water service tap.
(d) Determination of SFRE's. All connections which are not single-family units as described in subsection (c) above shall have the number of SFRE's determined through the size of the water service tap or taps serving the building, structure, or premises, according to the following table:
Water Service Tap Size (inches) | Number of SFRE's
¾ | 2.0
1 | 4.8
1½ | 11
2 | 20
3 | 43
4 | 86
For water service tap sizes six (6) inches and larger, the SFRE's shall be determined by the flow, BOD, SS, and TKN in conformity with the Rules and Regulations of the Wastewater Management Division and/or the Rules and Regulations of Metro, as authorized by the service agreement. New connections served by multiple new water service taps with a combined number of SFRE's greater than two hundred five (205) shall have the number of SFRE's determined as for connections with service taps six (6) inches or larger.
(e) Miscellaneous. Multiple water and/or sewer taps, unusual water tap sizes, exemptions and reductions shall be determined, and any necessary adjustments made, by the manager of transportation and infrastructure in conformity with the rules and regulations of the wastewater management division and/or the rules and regulations of metro, as authorized by the service agreement.
(f) Reactivation of inactive connections. When a sewer connection is inactive for a period of ten (10) years or more, a reactivation fee shall be due when the connection is reactivated. The reactivation fee shall be set by the Metro Board per SFRE, as authorized by the service agreement, and shall be due for each year, or part thereof, beyond ten (10) which a connection is inactive. The total reactivation fee shall not exceed the sewer connection charges in effect at the time the connection is reactivated.
A sewer connection shall be considered as inactive when records from the water supply agency serving the building or premises do not show that a measurable amount of water was supplied to the building or premises during the ten (10) or more consecutive years regardless of whether any payment for water was made during or after those years. The date of sanitary sewer service reactivation shall be the date that the water supply agency resumes water service.
(g) Redevelopment credits. Where redevelopment of a lot, parcel of land, building or premises occurs, all previously existing active connections serving that lot, parcel of land, building or premises may be credited for existing SFRE's at the current fee rate. There shall be no rebate or future credit where such redevelopment results in a reduction of SFRE's.
(Ord. No. 725-93, § 1, 9-20-93; Ord. No. 834-95, § 2, 10-10-95; Ord. No. 677-96, § 1, 8-5-96; Ord. No. 932-96, §§ 1, 2, 10-28-96; Ord. No. 691-97, § 1, 10-6-97; Ord. No. 900-98, § 1, 12-14-98; Ord. No. 25-00, § 1, 1-10-00; Ord. No. 905, § 1, 10-22-01; Ord. No. 200-02, § 1, 3-11-02; Ord. No. 930-02, § 1, 11-12-02; Ord. No. 915-03, § 1, 12-1-03; Ord. No. 959-04, § 1, 12-20-04; Ord. No. 54-06, § 1, 1-23-06; Ord. No. 267-11, § 4, 5-16-11; Ord. No. 340-11, § 6, 6-20-11; Ord. No. 53-15, § 1, 3-2-15; Ord. No. 39-20, § 238, 2-3-20)
Source: City and County of Denver, Revised Municipal Code and Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/co/denver/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TITIIREMUCO_CH56UT_ARTIIISE_DIV3SASECHMAWA_S56-92.5SASECOFEFetched: 10/27/2026