Harrisburg, Pa., Property Owners to See New Storm Water Fee
A new fee to Harrisburg, Pa., property owners’ bills will be added starting July 2020 in an attempt to keep storm water sewage from Susquehanna River.
Ratepayers will encounter increases to what they already are paying for beginning July 2020, including drinking water and wastewater, reported the Patriot News.
There will be a 4.5% increase to wastewater costs, which takes the rate from $7.65 to $7.99 per 1,000 gal. The drinking water rate will increase by 19 cents per 1,000 gal, or $9.65 to $9.84. The ready-to-serve rate will increase from $7.60 to $7.77 per month.
Capital Region Water (CRW) officials decided to completely revamp their plan for a gradual rollout of the new stormwater fee, according to the Patriot News. The addition of the wastewater hike intends to allow for a more gradual cost increase to residents, as opposed to a steep increase all at once in the future.
The fee will be charged based on each property owner’s amount of impervious land. This allows property owners to appeal their assessed amount of impervious surface before the fees kick in.
A tiered approach was previously proposed to ensure property owners pay only 40% of the fee in 2020, but this idea was ultimately discarded. Instead, ratepayers will immediately pay 100% of the fee in July.
The privatization of the city’s water and sewer system “is off the table” for now, according to the Patriot News.
The July 2020 rollout will also give CRW officials time to negotiate with government regulators at the U.S. EPA, who have yet to accept the plan.
Income from the stormwater fee is expected to help fund the $315 million City Beautiful H2O plan, which intends to increase the local sewer system’s capacity while adding absorbent green infrastructure.
CRW officials expect the new stormwater fee will create an additional $2.65 million in revenue in 2020. It would generate about $5.3 million in a full year, reported the Patriot News.
