Suppose that the City of Prescott does go ahead with the proposed sewer connection plan, making hookups mandatory, and forcing the homeowners to each pay the entire amount. What happens to the property values?

On the one hand, the home is now hooked up to the official, sanctioned sewer lines provided by the City of Prescott. But, on the other hand, a lien is placed on the home to ensure payment of assessments, for an amount ranging somewhere between $19,475 and $46,664. That lien would effectively reduce the equity in the home by the stated amount. Will the fact that it is now hooked up to the sewer increase the value of the home in a compensating amount?

No, according to Dave Conners, a realtor with Keller Williams Check Realty, which serves the tri-city area. Connors writes, "The short answer is that in the Prescott area there appears to be NO difference in home value in terms of sewer vs. septic."

The long answer is a bit more complicated, since it's difficult to be exact. Connors explains, "Ideally, you'd have something like 20 homes on and 20 homes off sewer in the same area, and you could compare."

Instead, a number of MLS comparisons were made of pairs of homes, one on the sewer, one off the sewer, in different areas with different ages and different floor plans. But, as best as could be determined, "...even though there are some folks who will prefer sewer over septic, the question of sewer vs. septic does not appear to change the market value of a house."

It is even possible that because of the assessment, houses with a new sewer system could actually have a lower cash value than the homes with an existing sewer hookup or septic system. "...if the City does do the sewer project and puts an assessment on the houses, the value of a house with septic (or newly installed sewer) will automatically effectively drop in value by that assessment, and at that point there will be a price difference in sewer vs. septic houses."

Pam Pearsall, who is running for Yavapai County Assessor agrees with Connor. Pearsall is more than just a wanna-be politician, she is a General Certified Appraiser, certified by the Arizona State Board of Appraisal, making her qualified to value any property, from vacant land all the way through to complex commercial properties.

On Saturday, at the Political Candidates Open House, held at the Williamson Valley Fire Department, Prescott eNews asked Pearsall about her opinion regarding the Mayor's proposal to mandate sewer hookups. Pearsall responded, "I don't like it. I am a strong person for property rights. And I don't believe in things that force people... I like Jack Wilson, but I do not like that plan. I do not think that we should be forcing people to do things... unless you could show that there was really a health risk, that these septic tanks, that they've had forever, are really contaminating something. Then, of course, I'm for the environment, I don't want pollution."

Pearsall continued, "But barring that, I do not agree that the government should come in, and say, in a market like this [you must hookup to our sewer]. As an appraiser, am I going to be able to say, 'Your house has a septic tank,' oh, and 'now that you're hooked to the sewer, your house is worth $40,000 more?' No way," Pearsall said emphatically. "You were able to flush that toilet before, you are able to flush that toilet now... I can do comparative sales analysis and show you there's not that difference. So, now they're stuck and unable to refinance, sell, what if they've lost their job? They could lose their house... I just strongly am against it. As an assessor, though, we would value based on the law and the statutes and it wouldn't have anything to do with my opinion. But as a personal voter, I would beg the government not to do stuff like that."

Next Public Workshop

There is another Public Workshop tonight at the Council Chambers, starting at 5:30 pm (assuming that the regular City Council meeting doesn't run longer than 2 1/2 hours). The public will be allowed to comment and ask questions at this workshop. 

In the meantime, Mayor Wilson has prepared an updated version of his FAQ document regarding sewers and sent it out today. There is quite a lot of new information, it is now nine pages instead of six. FAQ Unsewered Areas, Updated 6-9-08

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