New Proposed Water Sewer Increases

Mar 23
3 min read

Where We Are At – April 15^th we will discuss the budget again and set a public hearing for May 6^th with any proposed changes to the tax and or water/ sewer rates.

General Budget - The general budget has its problems but there is no proposed increase so I will mention a few concerns and focus on water and sewer since a significant increase has been proposed. In the last 5 years council (not me) has voted to raise real estate, trash, meals and lodging as well as water and sewer rates and last year we only balanced the budget because of the use of one-time funds. Every year we are told our spending is outpacing our revenues yet we keep spending. Numerous department budgets have ballooned since 2020 examples: Town Managers budget +87%, Finance +53%, Police +83%, E911 +98%, Public Works +140%, Parking meters/lots +216%, Trash +64%, planning +73% and Professional Services contracts +1300%. My point is just because we are balancing the general fund budget due to the school required match going down by $265k this year doesn’t mean we are safe.

Water and Sewer – Here’s my take on the proposed increase of $23.40 quarterly (1.96 water, 21.44 sewer) which would bring the new quarterly bill up to $410. While the proposed increase is going in the right direction, we are still facing the 2nd significant increase in 2 years. Why you ask? In my opinion it’s due to poor decisions over several years. First off, we have been told the plant was

mismanaged for years. Is that the truth? I don’t know but if it is I can say it was hidden from some if not all council members until it was too late. The decision to turn the plant operations over to a 3^rd party contractor (Inboden) has been celebrated as a major win for the town but it cost us dearly to the toon of a $1.6M increase in operation costs since the contractor took over in 2024. We were told turning over control to a 3^rd party contractor was our only choice but that is not true.

Could we avoid another significant increase this year??

Yes, in my opinion we could try some of these ideas to get things under control.

1. Reduce expenses even further and look at the total budget for additional cuts.

2. Stop giving deep discounts for water sewer hookups to certain developers in town.

3. Do a town wide study to ensure all residents are paying separate water sewer bills.

4. Create a plan that can be implemented by next fiscal year for metering water usage to encourage conservation and stop charging households with 1-2 people the same as those with 6 or AirBnB rentals.

5. Hold the contractor that promised to reduce 24/7 coverage after a few months to their promise or renegotiate the contract that increased by $300k.

6. Start searching for a qualified plant manager and take back management of the plant. Surely this would cost less than the $1.6M increase since 2024.

7. Fix the inflow and infiltration issues as soon as possible.

What you can do. Speak at the May public hearing, contact your Council members or provide suggestions on ways other communities have gotten their water sewer costs under control.

Council email TownCouncil@ColonialBeachVA.gov

Visuals

Water Sewer budget increases since 2019