City Council briefs

March 05, 2003|by SCOTT BUTKI

Water, sewer inspection fees get consensus

The Hagerstown City Council gave general consensus Tuesday to imposing water and sewer department review and inspection fees.

The city spends $200,000 on personnel costs to review water and sewer applications, inspect extensions and do related work, Water Pollution Control Manager Dave Shindle said.

He suggested the city start imposing fees to generate enough money to recover the $200,000 in personnel costs, which the proposed fee structure would do, he said.

He suggested the city charge:

A $50 fee for each water or sewer application.
An inspection fee of $10 per foot of pipe.
A pump station fee of $16 per gallon of pump station capacity.

The city has a $15 sewer application fee but the rest of the fees would be new.

The changes are in response to the council encouraging city staff to find ways to increase revenues and offset expenses.

Water, sewer rates won't go up this year

The Hagerstown Water Pollution Control Department will not have to increase rates for the next fiscal year, Water Pollution Control Manager Dave Shindle told the Hagerstown City Council Tuesday.

The city had planned to increase the sewer rates during the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, he said. The 3.5 percent increase would have taken effect in October 2003, he said.

That increase will not be needed because the sewer budget will be fine without it, he said.

Money from the city's water and sewer funds can't be transferred to the general fund, he said.

The city is projecting a $2 million general fund shortfall for the next fiscal year.

|

|

|