Customers assessed front foot benefit charges are provided two methods to pay such charges. They may pay the charge in full by May 31st of each year, or elect to defer FFBC charges over a period of time equivalent to the term of the bond issued by WSSC to finance construction. Currently, construction bond life is 23 years. Although FFBC are not taxes within the legal meaning of the word, they do appear on county tax bills and are collected by the county taxing authorities. Unlike taxes, the annual amount remains the same and the assessment ceases when the bond is retired.

An owner who has initially elected to defer FFBC may subsequently redeem or pay off the unpaid balance of the assessment charges by contacting WSSC’s Property Assessment staff. All redemption quotations or calculations will be made as of January 1st following the previous July’s tax billing and are good until May 31st. All redemptions are calculated using annuity present value (dollar worth factor) tables and take into account the interest rate associated with the deferred FFBC, number of annual payments received and applicable service fee(s). (Property assessments manual § 1.4, dated October 1998)