SB 6096, requiring cities to defer water and sewer utility connection fees on residential construction, failed to pass the February 17 house-of-origin cutoff. AWC does not expect the bill to make a return before the end of the legislative session.

We thank the many member cities who assisted AWC staff with our work on the bill.

Cities seek amendments to mitigate proposed requirements to defer utility connection fees

February 6, 2026

AWC staff are working to improve a bipartisan bill seeking to require cities to defer water and sewer utility connection fees on residential construction with the aim of increasing housing affordability.

SB 6096, sponsored by Sens. Keith Goehner (R–Dryden) and Jessica Bateman (D-Olympia), requires cities and towns to adopt a system for deferring connection charges for single-family detached, single-family attached, and multifamily residential construction by 2030. Cities that already have such a system in place are exempt from the requirements of the bill.

Utilities have the option to defer collection payment until final inspection or  certificate of occupancy. The bill also requires the utility to withhold certification until the connection charges are paid in full.

Importantly, “connection charge” is defined in the legislation as the one-time capital and administrative charges that are imposed by a utility for physical connection to existing infrastructure for a single-family detached, single-family attached, or multifamily residence.

AWC has expressed concerns with the proposal and shared examples of its potential fiscal impacts as well as cities’ numerous concerns with its implications. These concerns include that the bill:

• Allows developers to pass costs onto the homeowner;
• Prevents utilities from collecting revenue needed to accommodate development and from successfully aligning capital projects with development activity;
• Creates potential cashflow problems;
• Introduces financial risk for the utility; and
• Creates a new administrative process for cities to establish and maintain.

We submitted amendments to the bill sponsor narrowing the required deferral to only the system development charges, not the charges designed to cover the physical hookup to the system.

These proposed amendments were not adopted. SB 6096 passed out of the Senate Housing Committee last week and awaits a vote on the Senate floor this week.

AWC will continue to work with legislators to amend the bill as it moves from the Senate to the House. We ask cities to share their concerns about the proposal with your legislators and to discuss feasible, alternative solutions to the problem they aim to solve. Please also contact AWC staff with your suggestions.