FINANCING SOURCE	PROVIDES FUNDS	REPAYMENT	ADVANTAGES	DISADVANTAGES
Taxes	Immediately	By all taxpayers immediately	Preserves borrowing capacity; saves interest cost	Funds may be insufficient; may not relate payment to benefits received
Special Assessments and Special Districts	Immediately	By assessed customers at time of construction. If bonded, over 10-30 years	Makes funds available immediately; matches payments and benefit	Requires legislative approval; may seriously impact assessed customers
User Charges	Immediately	By rate payers immediately	Eliminates need for borrowing or reserves	Impractical for large projects; may make rates erratic from year to year
Reserves	In future	By rate payers each year until reserve is adequate	Eliminates need for borrowing; improves financial stability of system	Can be politically difficult; difficult to "protect" reserves for intended use; impractical for large projects
Negotiated Exactions or Impact Fees (hookups, systems development or capital fees)	Immediately	By developers or customers immediately	Requires new customers to pay for impacts they place on system	Political problems (viewed as "anti-development"); ineffective where there is little or no growth; affects housing affordability
Grants	Immediately	No repayment needed	Source of free money	Reporting and administration may be burdensome, may not be in accordance with county priorities
Public-Private Ventures	Varies	By private investors and by taxpayers	Total costs to county government are reduced	Coordination can be complicated and time-consuming