City hopes to increase wastewater connection fees

The city's utility department is looking to scare up more revenue to hold down sewer service rates.\nSo officials are proposing increases in wastewater connection and stormwater fees. The Bloomington Utilities Department held a three-hour Utilities Service Board meeting on the plan Monday evening, outlining their intentions.\nCity hall supports the plan -- Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez said the proposal was a matter of "fairness and equity" for all utilities customers. But critics contend the proposed hikes will hinder development and growth.\n"I believe that the true purpose of impact fees is to close the gates on Bloomington," said Gregory Blum, a representative of Cook Inc., one of the area's largest employers.\nA decision by the utilities board -- which discussed the issue at length Monday -- is slated for its July 16 meeting. If it approves the proposal, the city council will have the final say on the matter.\nSince 1994, the city has assessed connection fees so that new users pay for part of the existing utility infrastructure. Utilities engineer Jonathan Heald said his department would like to raise the wasterwater connection fee for a single family residence from $500 to $1,000.\nWith multi-family dwellings, the utilities department hopes to raise the connection fee to $650 per unit. Heald said research determined that the typical apartment generates 65 percent of the wastewater of a single-family residence.\nUnder the current fee structure, most apartment complexes and commercial customers pay a flat $1,600 connection fee regardless of size. If the changes are approved, the city would assess the fees of large commercial and industrial customers on a case-by-case basis.\nAffordable housing projects remain eligible for discounted connection fees under the proposal, Heald said.\nUtilities Director Mike Philips said the proposed $1,000 base rate for single-family residences should generate enough revenue to avoid a sewer service fee increase in next year's budget, which the city council is currently working on.\n"The mayor asked us to do what we could to avoid a wastewater fee increase," Philips said. "While it's difficult to precisely predict the number of new connections, we believe the base connection fee will allow us to keep sewer usage rates steady next year."\nWhile the proposal is targeted at keeping rates low for homeowners, it's also won over local environmentalists, such as Monroe County Councilman Scott Wells.\n"We would curtail urban sprawl," he said at Monday's meeting. "We would stabilize rents and maybe even come up with some money up front for capital improvement."\nWells has long advocated a connection fee hike and said Monday that he doesn't think the proposal goes far enough. Others, such as Green Party member Isabel Piedmont, praised the move as forward-thinking.\nThe utilities department also intends to increase stormwater utility fees. Under the proposal, fees for single-family residences would remain at $2.35 a month, Heald said. But with that base rate, the city hopes to reassess other fees by taking into account the acreage of a given piece of property and other factors.\nPending approval, the city council will hold its first hearing on the proposed rates July 17. The vote is scheduled for July 25.