The Clean Water Services' Board of Directors adopted the Fiscal Year 2008-2009 Budget on June 3. The Budget increases sewer rates for urban Washington County customers by 4.5 percent and funds more than $67 million of new capital construction to improve and protect clean water in the Tualatin River Watershed.
The Clean Water Services' 4.5 percent sanitary sewer rate increase will go into effect July 1, 2008. The increase is about $1.34 per month for the average residential customer. There was no increase for the Surface Water Management (SWM) fee, which has remained at $4.00 per month for residential customers since 1998.
The modest increase is necessary to meet increasing federal water quality requirements, pay debt service on bonds issued for the upgrade and expansion of Clean Water Services’ four wastewater treatment facilities and the public drainage system, and sustain the health and vitality of the Tualatin River Watershed.
To ensure new construction pays its fair share of capital costs related to growth, the District is also recommending a $300 increase in the one-time System Development Charge (SDC) for new connections. The sanitary sewer SDC would increase from $2,800 to $3,100 per connection effective July, 1 2008. The surface water management SDC remains unchanged at $500 per new connection, bringing the total SDC charges to $3,600.
Clean Water Services’ total Fiscal Year 2009 budget is $239.4 million, which includes the following major components: $67 million for capital construction, $55.8 million for operating expenses, $28.3 million for debt service,
$28.1 million for contingency and $60.1 million for fund transfers. Fund transfers must be reflected in the budget, but do not represent actual expenditures.
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Attachments
Contacts
Bruce Griswold
Chief Financial Officer
Clean Water Services
(503) 681-3606
griswoldb@cleanwaterservices.org |