A planned increase in water and sewer bills for Harford County residents next year has been cancelled, as County Executive Bob Cassilly revoked legislation outlining the increases amid criticism from the County Council.

Cassilly proposed legislation in February that aimed to increase water and sewer fees for residents on county services by 4.2% each year, over the next five years. That’s 0.3% less than the increases that had been previously scheduled.

The increases would cover growing operating expenses and increased costs for maintenance and repairs. However, Council President Patrick Vincenti said during a public hearing on the bill last week that with all of the other cost increases residents have experienced over the past three years, the water and sewer fee increase is not necessary.

“A lot of our customers are on fixed incomes and a lot of our customers don’t have the extra money and they are getting pounded, not just by bills like this, but by higher property assessments, cost of goods, BGE, we raised your 911 fees and our permit fees,” Vincenti said. “I just wonder how much more our average citizen can take.”

Cassilly pulled the legislation after the public hearing, which means residents will not see any increases to their water and sewer bills for the foreseeable future since the former fee schedule legislation is set to expire at the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

The county executive noted that the water and sewer fee increases are “inevitable” and said he would like the council to revisit the increases next year. Cassilly said he is “optimistic” that the future increases will not be more than the proposed 4.2% increases set for the next five years.

When he proposed the legislation, Cassilly said the state and county were in a different “situation” where federal layoffs had yet to hit Maryland, and the increased taxes and fees in the state budget were not finalized.

Both Cassilly and Vincenti said the increased operating expenses and maintenance costs for county water and sewer will be covered by the water and sewer fund’s near $240 million reserve fund until a new fee schedule is passed by the council.

The water and sewer fund operates as an enterprise fund, meaning that every dollar paid into the fund by customers is used to fund water and sewer operations, or the water and sewer reserve fund.

Cassilly said by taking a year off from implementing rate increases, which have been imposed every year since 2014, the county will reduce the reserve fund.

“We can get away with it for a little bit but in the long run, it will come back on us if we don’t revisit it because the fund balance is how we address system breaks and upgrades,” Cassilly said. “We are going to have to keep an eye on this or we will be in trouble.”

Vincenti explained that before 2014, the county had not increased water and sewer fees, which resulted in one large increase in residents’ bills to cover the operating budget deficit. Had the increase not been implemented, county Treasurer Robert Sandless said the county would have needed to “borrow money” to fund the water and sewer operating budget.

The county decided to conduct a rate study every four years to evaluate and implement smaller rate increases each year to avoid one large increase again.

The proposed 4.2% annual increase, Vincenti said, would have added an additional $3 million in revenue to the water and sewer fund, which he said the county would use to give raises to water and sewer employees. Vincenti emphasized that the county “doesn’t need” the additional revenue since the fund has such a large reserve.

“We have a quarter of a billion dollars in our fund balance so it is not like we have to have that today to give those [wage] increases,” Vincenti said. “We do not have to put this on the backs of the citizens.”

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