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Abandoned Water Right A water right, which was not put to beneficial use for a number of years, generally five to seven years.

Abatement A reduction or decrease in the amount, degree, intensity or worth. Tax abatements are common incentive offers made by places that want economic development.

Absenteeism The ratio of workers with absences to total full-time wage and salary employment. Absences are defined as instances when persons who usually work 35 or more hours per week worked less than 35 hours during the reference week for one of the following reasons: own illness, injury, or medical problems; child-care problems; other family or personal obligations; civic or military duty; and maternity or paternity leave. See also Turnover Rates.

Absorption Rate An estimate or calculation of the rate at which a specific property or properties in an area will be or were sold or occupied during a given period of time, such as a year.

Accelerated Cost Recovery ACR is a means of depreciating property that results in faster recovery of cost over a set period of time. The accelerated cost recovery method is different from the straight-line method.

Accelerated Depreciation Any depreciation method that produces larger deductions for depreciation in the early years of an asset's life. Accelerated cost recovery system (ACRS), which is a depreciation schedule allowed for tax purposes, is one such example.

ACCRA Composite Cost of Living Index The Composite Cost of Living Index provides a numerical index, which compares the relative cost of living from one community to another. The average for all participating areas equals 100, and each community’s index is read as a percentage of the average for all participating areas. The ACCRA cost of living index relies on voluntary participation for data collection. Therefore, ACCRA does not have data for all communities. Initially, ACCRA was an acronym for the American Chamber of Commerce Research Association, but most recently it is simply a title for a multipurpose organization serving a variety of economic development and educational institutions. http://www.accra.org/index.html

Accretion A gradual increase in land area adjacent to a river.

Accumulated Sludge Sludge that is 99% active with living healthy microorganisms.

Acid Rain The acidic rainfall which results when rain combines with sulfur oxide emissions from combustion of fossil fuels.

Achievement Test The annual Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) is a standards-based criterion-referenced assessment used to measure a student's attainment of the academic standards while also determining the degree to which school programs enable students to attain proficiency of the standards. Every Pennsylvania student in 5th, 8th and 11th grade is assessed for their reading and math abilities, and all students in grades 11 are assessed for their writing ability.

http://www.pde.state.pa.us/a_and_t/cwp/browse.asp?a=3&bc=0&c=27525&a_and_tNav=|633|&a_and_tNav=|

Acquisition Cost The cost to purchase land or building.

Acre A measure equal to 43,560 sf (square feet), 4,840 square yards, 4,047 sm (square meters, 160 square rods, or 0.4047 hectare. A square acre is 208.71' X 208.71' (' = feet).

Acre-Foot The amount of water required to cover one acre to a depth of one foot. An acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons, or 43,560 cubic feet. A flow of 1 cubic foot per second produces 1.98 acre-feet per day.

Activated Carbon Adsorption The process of pollutants moving out of water and attaching on to activated carbon.

Activated Sludge Process Process where accumulated sludge is returned back to the digestion chamber to further increase treatment efficiency.

ACT Test The ACT Assessment^® is designed to assess high school students' general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work. The tests cover four skill areas: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science reasoning. http://www.act.org/

Aesthetic Considerations The appearance of a site or building that is pleasing in either form or function.

ADSL Telecommunications acronym meaning Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line. Digital subscriber line technologies allow telecommunications companies to using existing twisted pair copper line to transport multimedia and high-speed data transmissions. Compared to standard DSL service, ADSL will have different speeds for data coming into a system versus data being transmitted out.

Ad Valorem According to valuation (Latin), a term used in assessing and taxing property.

Aeration The mixing or turbulent exposure of water to air and oxygen to dissipate volatile contaminants and other pollutants into the air.

Aerobic Bacteria Free dissolved oxygen is required for this type of bacteria to live, as well as to assist in the treatment of wastewater.

Aesthetic Considerations Characteristics of a site deemed desirable. Usually these attributes are considered to be either pleasing to the eye, make a positive statement about the company’s ideals/ojectives or promote their product/service in some fashion. Visibility, surrounding land use, architecture and design are but a few considerations.

After-Tax Income adjusted for the effect that taxes due or paid have upon it.

Air Traffic Hub See Hub Classification.

Algae Bloom A phenomenon whereby excessive nutrients within a river, stream or lake cause an explosion of plant life, which results in the depletion of the oxygen in the water needed by fish and other aquatic life. Algae bloom is usually the result of urban runoff (of lawn fertilizers, etc.). The potential tragedy is that of a "fish kill," where the stream life dies in one mass extinction.

Alkalinity The measurement of constituents in a water supply that determine alkaline conditions. The alkalinity of water is a measure of its capacity to neutralize acids. See pH.

Alignment The marshalling of resources and the directive to focus toward a specific call to action, with a clear understanding of the objectives of the site selection undertaking, the process and procedures to be followed, and the hierarchy of personnel and reporting structure to be followed. To strategize with a plan.

Alluvium Sediments deposited by erosion processes, usually by streams.

Alternating Current (AC) An electric current that reverses its direction of flow periodically, as contrasted to direct current.

Alternative Fuels Any non-traditional energy or fuel source. Under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct) alternative fuels for vehicles include: methanol; denatured ethanol; mixtures containing a volume of 85 percent or more of methanol, denatured ethanol, or other alcohols with gasoline or other fuels; natural gas; liquefied petroleum gas; hydrogen; coal-derived liquid fuels; fuels derived from biological materials; electricity (including electricity from solar energy); and any other substantially non-petroleum fuel designated by the Secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Amenities The tangible and intangible features that enhance and add to the value or perceived value of a location or community.

American National Standards Institute See ANSI

American Public Works Association See APWA

Amortize The act of reducing a debt through installments. To reduce a financial obligation by making payments against the principal balance in installments or regular transfers, or to write off the cost of an asset over a period of time in a statement of accounts.

Ampere (amp) The unit of measure of an electric current. It is proportional to the quantity of electrons flowing through a conductor past a given point in one second. It is analogous to cubic feet of water flowing per second. It is the unit current produced in a circuit by one volt acting across a resistance of one ohm.

Anaerobic Bacteria Bacteria that grow only in the absence of free dissolved oxygen.

Analog Signal The phone system was built originally for analog voice communication in a narrow range of frequencies. Analog signals are made up 3 primary electrical characteristics: frequency, amplitude, and phase. A transmission (of voice or data) is conveyed by varying the frequency, amplitude or phase of the carrier. Analog switches convert sound waves into electrical signals with varying frequency and amplitude.

Analog Switch Switching equipment designed, designated, or used to connect circuits between users for real-time transmission of analog signals.

Ancillary Labor Workers not actually in a labor market such as retirees, separating military personnel, students or spouses that have no record of seeking a job in a market. Ancillary Labor is a classification of workers who may be counted as potential workers in a given labor pool. Labor pools containing potential supplemental workers are sometimes referred to as ancillary labor pools.

Annex The act of joining or adding one property, area or thing to another.

ANSI American National Standards Institute. The coordinating organization for America's federated national standards system. The ANSI federation consists of nine hundred companies, large and small, and some two hundred trade, technical, professional, labor, and consumer organizations.

Appraisal An examination that formulates and helps support an opinion about real property value. Usually a professional appraiser is required to perform an examination and render an opinion using one of the following approaches:

Cost approach - An estimated value based on the cost of reproduction or replacement of improvements, less depreciation, plus the value of the land, with land-value usually being determined by the market approach.

Income approach - An estimated value based on the capitalization of income and productivity - often referred to as the income approach to value or the economic approach to value. This approach is concerned with the present worth of future benefits of the property.

Market approach - A comparative analysis of current sales prices of similar properties, after making necessary adjustments for any differences in them. Also called the market-data approach or the direct sales comparison approach.

APWA American Public Works Association. An international educational and professional association of public agencies, private sector companies, and individuals dedicated to providing high quality public works goods and services. Chartered in 1937 and having 2 offices and 67 chapters in the United States, it is the oldest and largest organization of its kind in the world.

Aquifer An underground area that contains fresh water in sufficient amounts to yield useful quantities to wells and springs.

Areas of Interest Candidate locations within a specific geographic region that meet the preliminary requirements of a project. These areas are capable of fulfilling the minimum requirements of a project.

Arm's Length Transaction A transaction during which the parties deal from equal bargaining positions and stand upon the strict letter of the law or act in a formal manner on all exchanges.

Artificial Wetlands Wetlands that are artificially created, often as part of a water treatment facility.

Artesian Aquifer A geologic formation in which water is under sufficient hydrostatic pressure to be discharged to the surface without pumping.

Artesian Well A water well drilled into a confined aquifer where enough hydraulic pressure exists for the water to flow to the surface without pumping.

Artesian Zone A zone where water is confined in an aquifer under pressure so that the water will rise in the well casing or drilled hole above the bottom of the confining layer overlying the aquifer.

Assessed Value The value placed upon property after multiplying the assessment level by the market value.

Assessment An official valuation of real property for tax purposes based on appraisal.

Assessment Ratio Percentage applied to the total appraised value (taxable value) of the property.

Attainment A geographic area in which levels of an air pollutant meet the health-based primary standard (national ambient air quality standard, or NAAQS) for the pollutant. For example, an area that is in “attainment” for ozone (one of the criteria NAAQS criteria pollutants) is deemed to have an acceptable level of ozone in the air. An area may have an acceptable level for one criteria air pollutant, but may have unacceptable levels for others. Thus, an area could be both attainment and nonattainment at the same time. Attainment areas are defined using federal pollutant limits set by EPA. Air

Attainment Status: http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/greenbk/

Attrition The gradual reduction in the number of employees. Attrition is brought about by not replacing those who leave an employer or a workforce. The personnel loss from the workforce of a relocating company or operation, at its original location, and replaced at the new location, is sometimes counted as attrition, although the loss my not be so gradual.

Availability A site or building that is for sale or lease. The degree that groundbreaking, possession or occupancy can take place.

Available Building A structure offered for sale or lease. Available buildings include shells that are partially constructed so that they can be completed to specifications. Shell buildings may also be speculative buildings or spec buildings. A spec building, however, doesn't necessary have to be built as a shell. A speculative building may be built and made available in a way that makes it ready to occupy on short notice.

Average Cost Referring to utility usage, this is a method of determining the cost of providing a service, generally power, to the various customer classes. Average cost-of-service figures may be used in setting rates. Average costs are determined with the aid of information gathered in a cost-of-service study. Average costs are total costs divided by the number of units produced. This method of costing, while distinguishing costs between different customer classes, fails to recognize that not all kilowatts and kilowatt-hours are produced at the same cost within one customer class. Seasonal, time-of-day and marginal cost-based rates more accurately reflect the true costs of producing each kilowatt or kilowatt-hour.

Average Demand The total demand for water/sewer during a period of time divided by the number of days in that time period. This is also called the average daily demand.