Berlin Creates New Water, Sewer Capital Service Fee

BERLIN – Town officials voted 3-1 this week to begin charging capital service fees to water and sewer customers.

The council on Monday approved a resolution establishing water and sewer capital service fees. The fees amount to $19.50 a month for residential customers and will go into effect Sept. 1.

“It’s hard on people with fixed income, its hard on people with inflation but we’re at a point now we don’t have any money to divert to the infrastructure that is breaking,” Mayor Zack Tyndall said. “It’s tipping into the general fund which is your tax rate. We’re trying to even out the funds so it’s not continuing to tip into the general fund.”

Jean Holloway of SERCAP Maryland (Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project) on Monday presented the council with a recap of the recommendations she made last year regarding the town’s water and sewer rates. While the town is working toward installing smart water meters, her primary recommendation, another suggestion was implementing a new rate to begin building a capital reserve for replacements and improvements.

“Neither the water or the sewer system is financially sustainable under the present circumstances and rate structure,” she said.

She said that would impact the town’s credit worthiness and ability to get grants.

Tyndall said that as a result of Holloway’s recommendation regarding the capital reserve, the resolution for council consideration Monday would implement monthly capital service fees beginning Sept. 1. The resolution sets a water capital fee of $5 a month for residential customers and $10 a month for commercial customers. The sewer capital fee would be $14.50 a month for residential customers and $29.50 a month for commercial customers.

Councilman Jack Orris said the fees would amount to an additional $19.50 a month for most residents and pointed out that the new charge was being implemented before the smart meters — which are expected to lead to more accurate billing — were in place.

“I feel like we’re putting the cart before the horse,” he said.

Tyndall said officials were cognizant of the fact that residents’ bills would go up.

“We don’t take this lightly,” he said.

The new charge is expected to generate $139,600 for the water fund and $394,500 for the sewer fund. Tyndall said the influx of money was needed to help improve the financial condition of the water and sewer funds. Holloway added that this fee was an interim measure until the smart meters were in place and the town restructured its water and sewer rates entirely.

Tyndall said that once the smart meters were in place usage measurements would be so much more accurate that small households could see their bills go down. Nevertheless, he said the interim measure was needed to improve the condition of the water and sewer funds.

“The water and sewer side of things we really need to act presently,” he said.

The council voted 3-1, with Orris opposed, to enact the new fee.

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

Alternative Text

Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.