SAC and WAC charges

[Bryant Amundson]

Hey all! My wife and I are opening a business in Minnesota and are running into an interesting hurdle with the required SAC/WAC charges. The situation is unique because our acai bowl store does not require any additional sewer lines than are already present. There are actually more lines in the site than we need. These lines were added to the site in the 90's, when a coffee shop took over the space. According to the City of Minnetonka and the Metropolitan Council, there is no history of these SAC/WAC charges being paid for. We are now being told we have to pay for 2 sewer lines, which is equating to $10,674.22 total charges. Being it was the coffee shop tenant who did not pay/got away with not paying this, we are struggling to understand why the massive fees are falling on us at this time. We would love additional wisdom/advice/council from anyone who is knowledgable on this SAC/WAC issue. Our network has all agreed that there is no way we should have to pay this fee because when the landlord bought the building, he took on all current tenant's liabilities, etc., so why are we now having to pay for the previous tenant's charges? To us, it seems this should be the landlord's responsibility, as the SAC/WAC payments stay with the building forever and do not "expire" and are used as credits for future tenants. We are certainly taking the space "as is", especially because we do not need to add any additional lines to the space "as is". They're saying we have to pay for the prior years it was not paid.

We are working with a major deadline here and need as many second, third opinions on this topics as we can get. Thank you for reading! Looking forward to hearing what you may have to say! 

[Ryan Schroeder]

First, the WAC (or Water Access Charge) is levied by whomever owns the water system. If the business property is in Minnetonka it would be the City that determines the WAC. For information on SAC (sewer access charge) that is determined by the Metropolitan Council although sometimes cities add a surcharge onto the SAC (check with the city building department). The SAC paid on the property in the past and for a new use is determined by the Met Council. You will pay the City but they City is just collecting the money for the Met Council. The City "may" have information on what SAC charges were paid on the property in the past. The City "may" also have SAC credits that you should ask about (when a building is torn down for instance and if nothing is rebuilt on that site the city acquires a "bank" of credits that it can use on other properties). SAC should have been paid when the sewer line was installed. I don't know how a sewer line could have been constructed without the City knowing about it so there must have been something paid. Find out when that occurred.

As far as landlord/tenant; depends on what the lease says