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Council seems wary of proposed changes to water rate system

Tuesday, May. 24 by Laura Peters | 0 comments | Email this story

New recommendations from Leesburg’s Utility Rate Advisory Committee (URAC) put the town
council under water with the changes proposed to the current rate system.

Due to council request, the committee made changes to the current rate system to reduce high
water and sewer customer bills related mostly to watering lawns.

Water and sewer rates in Leesburg have long been a controversial subject. Initially constructed
solely for residents of the town, Leesburg’s water utility now serves some out-of-towners as well.
In past years, these customers paid up to a 100 percent rate differential for water services.

In November 2010, the Virginia Supreme Court ended a five-year court battle over the surcharge
in favor of the town’s ability to set significantly higher prices.

Even after the court decision, the Town Council kept the rate differential at 47 percent.

Delegate Joe May (R-33rd) and state Sen. Mark Herring (D-33rd) introduced legislation in the
General Assembly to require Board of Supervisors’ approval of proposed water rate increases,
but the legislation died in committee.
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Nan Moring, an out-of-town representative to the utility committee, presented changes along
with samples of customer bills with the changes imposed. Wednesday, May. 18 | 7025 views
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The advisory committee proposed increasing the fixed rate charge by $19.60 per quarter to
reflect the 50 percent debt service cost of the Utility Department. Wednesday, May. 18 | 2724 views
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“For some customers, most notably those that water their lawns, the $19.60 increase in fixed surveillance released
charges will be offset by lower sewer charges and could result in lower overall bills in non-winter Tuesday, May. 17 | 2300 views
quarters,” the advisory committee noted in its statement about the impact of the proposed Rollin’: Big wheels keep on turnin’;
changes. “Customers with low or consistent water usage throughout the year might see an proud girls keep on derby-in’
increase of $19.60 in their quarterly bill.” Sunday, May. 22 | 2072 views
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In the statement presented to council the committee said, “although the costs to operate the way for outer beltway
water and waste-water plants have remained stable over the last few years thanks to effective Thursday, May. 19 | 1856 views
cost control, the fixed rate charge increase is needed to pay for increasing debt service Minchew enters Delegate race in 10th
payments.” district

It also stated that the Utility Department carries $4 million in yearly bond interest and principal
payments, which is included in the debt service.

“My inclination is to have staff come back and look at the numbers,” Council member Ken Reid Stay
said. “We’re not going to be able to implement this in June. People aren’t going to be able to see Connected
this, this summer.”

According to the statement, about 80 percent of the outstanding bonds, approximately $54
million, were issued in 2006 to finance expansions and improvements to fresh water and waste
water facilities. The committee recommendation also explains that payment for debt services on Follow Us
those projects, which are capital improvement projects, are a fixed cost to the utility and are not on Twitter
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dependent on individual water use.

“I will not support this at all. It greatly helps out water users out of town, it is a regressive plan
and I view it as strongly anti-conservation,” Mayor Kristen Umstattd said. “You are encouraged
under this plan to use more and more water. I think for moderate- to low-income users this will
be a disaster.” Like Us
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In the statement, and reiterated by Moring, “the ultimate goal as a committee has been to create
a pricing structure that is focused on fairness, transparency, simplicity and conservation.”

“This continues to be a band-aid on a much bigger situation. This is a full-time decision for part-
time employees,” Council member Tom Dunn said. “I think we’d be looking at this in the long- Subscribe
term solution and put it in a more administrative body, not a bunch of politicians.” via RSS
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Customers face extra surcharges in the coming months because their fixed rates are set during
winter months, when lower quantities of water are generally used.

The advisory committee recommended that there be a change to the sewer charge and a capping
on usage at a “winter plus 3,000” gallons. The extra 3,000 gallons is an estimate of extra sewer Join Our
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volume generated in non-winter months, such as that generated by the watering of lawns. The Sign up for
problem users are facing is being subject to high usage rates when exceeding 35 percent over the weekly updates
usage in the winter quarter.

“Perhaps we’re not spending enough time as a council on this issue,” Council member Katie
Hammler questioned the timing of the material presented. “Clearly we have billing issues and we
need a communication plan. This is a good starting point, but now we have to put it into the
reality of all the important elements, like the billing system. Customers want predictability.”

The next step is for the council to either accept the new plan or advise URAC to adopt a revised
version. The town council decided May 23 that it needed more time to decide. The Loudoun Times-Mirror

Managing Editor John L. Geddie contributed to this article.

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