Despite protests, county authority raises water fees

The Albemarle County Service Authority decided Thursday to increase water and sewer connection fees by up to 45 percent in some cases — despite outcry from developers who said such increases could hurt business and would come without enough warning.

“This is a massive cost increase. … This is just the wrong time to do it,” Andrew McGinty, a developer with Coleway Development, told the authority’s Board of Directors, adding that he cannot build a multi-million-dollar “apartment complex when I’ve got a moving target.”

McGinty said that 45 percent fee increases — which the authority had originally proposed to go into effect Sept. 1 — would mean that the cost of building the apartment complex would jump a few hundred thousand dollars.

“I need time to plan for these [new charges],” McGinty said.

To soften the blow, the Board of Directors voted Thursday to increase the fees only as much as 15 percent beginning Sept. 1, with the full increase scheduled for March.

For system development, the authority currently imposes an equivalent residential charge of $1,037 for water connections, and $1,532 for sewer. Those numbers are slated to increase to $1,640 and $1,995 beginning in March. The Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority capacity charge is currently $2,095 for water and $2,425 for sewer, but those charges are scheduled to increase to $3,725 and $2,680 in March.

The increases were called for as a way to help pay for infrastructure needed to expand water capacity.

ACSA board member Liz Palmer said that for a select number of families, costs could go do down because the county eliminated local facilities charges for water and sewer connections. The charge has helped pay for local facilities such as mains, hydrants and valves.

In total the fees would have generated an estimated $1.8 million this fiscal year had the full increases gone into effect Sept. 1, said ACSA Executive Director Gary Fern. It’s unclear how much money will be generated from the fees now that the increases are staggered, because the lower charge could mean more developments.

Several representatives from the development community not only objected to the large fee increase but also said that if a major fee increase is going to be imposed, it should be announced at least a year or two in advance — some even called for a five-year notice — so that sudden increases wouldn’t hit developers who are beginning a new development.

In addition, some called for a revision to the payment system that would allow developers to pay sewer and water connection charges far in advance, so that they could be locked into those rates.

Currently, developers are not permitted to pay sewer and water connection fees until building permits are approved.

The Board of Directors agreed to consider amending the payment plans and vowed to discuss the matter further in coming months and get input from the development community.

In addition to helping developers, one advantage of allowing developers to pay far in advance is that the ACSA could get the money faster and begin using it to pay for infrastructure expenses. board Chairman Donald J. Wagner said.

As for the 45 percent fee increase, though it is scheduled to go into effect March 1, the board has the ability to impose a smaller fee increase if it decides to do so in coming months, Wagner said.

“When March comes, we might do something different. We might not,” Wagner said.

One commercial real-estate representative said that the higher fees could cause builders to make up for the increased costs by “cutting corners” and using cheaper materials.

Clarence Roberts, a member of the Board of Directors, said that the proposal heard Thursday attracted more opposition than anything he’s seen in several years.

Only John Martin voted against the fee increases, saying that he thought more time was needed to consider the concerns from the development community and to examine the budget effects of increasing the fees 15 percent.