By Ashley McLeod, Senior staff writer
Jun 11, 2016, 12:06
Some area residents may have to pay the price in the future with an increase in wastewater bills in order to make up funds not paid from the City of Petersburg.
Colonial Heights, Prince George, Petersburg, Dinwiddie and Chesterfield are a part of the South Central Wastewater Authority, created in 1996 to provide wastewater treatment services to the area.
The SCWWA took over operations of the Petersburg wastewater site, and since has been providing sewer services for each locality, sharing the cost as well.
But now an accumulation of unpaid bills from Petersburg has left the plant with low funds for operations.
Petersburg currently owes the SCWWA approximately $1.5 million for unpaid bills, which cover approximately five to six months of services.
The deadline for payment is Tuesday, June 14, and if the funds are not paid, other localities will have to make up the difference, or else the plant will not be able to continue running.
According to Prince George County Administrator Percy Ashcraft, the agreement signed between the localities states that in this scenario, the other localities are required to help.
“We have an agreement in place that if one of the localities fails to meet financial obligations, then the other localities have an obligation to make up the difference,” said Ashcraft.
For Prince George, the amount would be $30,000 a month, and according to Ashcraft the fund would come from the utility funds, and will not require a rate increase for citizens, at least at first.
“We would do that for nine months, and after that we would have to make a decision (on raising rates),” said Ashcraft.
The cost varies per locality according to the usage of the locality. Currently, Petersburg is responsible for 55 percent of use, Colonial Heights for 21 percent, Chesterfield for 9 percent, Dinwiddie for 8 percent, and Prince George for 7 percent.
The cost for Colonial Heights will be a 56% increase in normal sewer costs, totaling $80,000 a month.
According to City Manager Thomas Mattis, the cost increase would require a rate increase for residents, as the wastewater fund for the city is the “weakest fund” in the city’s financials.
“It wouldn’t be long that our sewer fund could take this kind of hit without having no other choice than to pass that on to our ratepayers,” said Mattis.
“If we have to absorb this cost, and if we have to pass it on to customers, our projection would about a 30 percent increase in monthly bills,” said Mattis.
This would be an increase of about $22 to $25 per customer.
Jay Stegmaier, County Administrator for Chesterfield, said in a statement that Chesterfield would not have to pass the cost onto their citizens.
“Chesterfield County has plans in place to absorb the potential rate increase from South Central Wastewater Authority without passing any rate increase onto our customers, due to the relative size and maturity of our utility system,” said Stegmaier. “The county is fortunate to have multiple ways to treat our customers’ wastewater, including owning and operating two large state-of-the-art wastewater treatment facilities. Our wastewater volume treated by SCWWA represents less than 4 percent of our overall wastewater flows.”
Colonial Heights will be most affected by this, due to the larger stake in the SCWWA.
The money paid by other localities for Petersburg debt will be considered a loan, and once funds are available, Petersburg will be required to pay back the money.
“Any cost that Colonial Heights will incur to help bridge this gap, or any other member, all of us would consider that, in whatever form it comes in, to be a loan, which will eventually be paid back to the city,” said Mattis.
Ashcraft echoed this statement.
“Once Petersburg is able to meet their obligations, the money would be returned back to us, “ said Ashcraft.
The alternative to paying the debts for Petersburg is not likely: if not paid, the plant will shut down, and residents will no longer have sewer services.
“It’s a tough situation for all the members. We have little choice but to do everything we can to keep the authority to continue to operate so that the sewer plant still operates and people can still flush their toilets,” said Mattis.
Colonial Heights has no other options for sewage treatment, as every sewer in the city eventually runs to the plant in Petersburg. The cost to build a new facility would be far more than paying the current debts.
Petersburg is also in debt to the Appomattox River Water Authority in the amount of approximately $395,000.
The deadline for payment by Petersburg is June 14, and the SCWWA board will have a meeting on June 15 to discuss what will happen next.
