Why do vacant lot owners have to pay “availability” fees? The construction, maintenance, and operation of a central water system for a remote, sparsely-populated mountain subdivision such as CCME would have been impossible without some charge to owners of CCME's vacant lots. In 1983, for example, MMWC reportedly provided water to only about 60 different customers.  Yet MMWC incurred over $150,000 in inflation-adjusted operating expenses that year.  If those users were expected to bear the full cost of MMWC's operating expenses, MMWC would have had to bill them $2500/year (inflation-adjusted).   It might have been cheaper for those customers to truck water to their cisterns than to pay $2500/year. Obviously, to make a central water system available to the subdivision, availability customers had to bear some of the costs. Today, MMWC provides water to over 320 taps.  And today, these user customers now bear over 50% of MMWC's operating expenses.  Availability customers are still subsidizing user customers, but to a smaller extent than in the past. MMWC has the potential of providing water to as many as 1400 customers.  As CCME's user population grows, users will bear an ever-increasing portion of MMWC's operating expenses. Availability customers benefit in three ways.  First, it gives them a right to tap into MMWC's water distribution system and thereby obtain water and water service.  Second, availability customers are currently charged only $500 to connect to MMWC's distribution lines.  This is considerably less than the tap fees that most water companies and districts in Teller County charge (tap fees typically range from $8000-$14000 in Teller County).  Third, the availability of a central water system increases the market value of most members' lots. Copyright © 2009-2011 MMWC Director Eric W. Cernyar