No Front Footage Fees!

What's a front footage fee, and why should we be glad we don't have one in Autumn Walk?

What Are Front Footage Fees?
When new communities are built, often water and sewer lines have to be extended to the new homes.

In some cases the cost of this infrastructure is just incorporated into the cost of the property when it's sold to the homeowner, without additional charges -- as is the case with our street, Garden Ranges!

That means that our water and sewer bills are just for our metered usage plus any other fees the County may add on, and the rate in Howard County is relatively low for most of us, less than $20-$30/month.

Paying Front Footage Fees
But in other neighborhoods, the developer may have set up a private entity to recover the cost of building out these water and sewer lines, typically over a long period of time such as 20 or 30 years.

You may have previously owned properties where homeowners must pay a front footage fee to this private entity (usually once or twice a year) for the recovery period. The fee is typically several hundred dollars.

Liens Against the Property
The front footage fee remains with the property until this assessment is paid off.

Thus a front footage fee is another bill the homeowner must remember to pay every year (or include in escrow), and if not paid the company can place a lien on the property.

All the more reason to be happy that we don't have front footage fees in Autumn Walk!