The Austin City Council approved its sewer availability access charge ordinance Monday after more than a year of research.

The city of Austin has researched a sewer access fee after a judge in 2013 threw out three $15,000 assessments for properties annexed into the city from the former Lansing Township. City staff have broken the fee down into three charges — a sanitary sewer permit fee, a sewer lateral development charge to extend sewer services on the property to a structure, and a sewer service charge.

The charges — about $500 for a permit fee, between $11,000 and $12,500 for the development charge and either $675 or $845 for the service charge — are meant for new commercial and residential properties that want to hook up to the city’s sewer, according to Public Works Director Steven Lang.

The new sewer charge would replace the city’s assessment policy, which means residents who wished to connect to the city’s sewer system — and who already haven’t had their properties previously hooked up to the city — would pay the fee up-front rather than spread out over 15 years.