Purcellville Council Codifies Multi-Year Utility Rate Schedule
By Valerie Cury
The Purcellville Town Council voted unanimously June 9 to codify a multi-year utility rate schedule intended to help fund future water and wastewater infrastructure needs while strengthening the town’s position when pursuing grants and other outside funding opportunities.
The measure passed 6-0.
Interim Town Manager Tony Sabio said the rate schedule grew out of discussions regarding the town’s long-term capital improvement needs, including major utility projects such as improvements associated with the Short Hill Water Plant.
Sabio told council members that shortly after arriving in Purcellville, he met with Loudoun County Administrator Tim Hemstreet to discuss the town’s infrastructure priorities and future funding opportunities.
According to Sabio, Hemstreet indicated that local governments seeking assistance for major infrastructure projects are often expected to demonstrate a commitment to addressing their own long-term financial needs.
“This is a first step to course-correcting our relationship with the county,” Sabio said. “We did our part to move in this direction, and what do we need to do to obtain these grants that we need? This gives me a tool to have that conversation.”
Sabio said the multi-year rate plan and the town’s Capital Improvement Plan were developed together to provide a framework for addressing future utility infrastructure requirements.
Council Member Susan Khalil said she would support codifying the schedule despite concerns about the projected increases.
“It is a hard pill to swallow with the rates for next year,” Khalil said.
Khalil expressed optimism that careful management of operating expenses, competitive bidding for planned projects and the pursuit of outside funding could help reduce future costs.
“I really will do all I can do to see what can be done so what we are looking at here would be the worst-case scenario,” Khalil said.
Mayor Chris Bertaut also emphasized that the projections assume major capital projects would be funded through cash reserves or borrowing, while town officials continue to pursue grants and other funding sources.
“When we create a budget that says we are going to be spending $20 million to $30 million on capital improvement projects, we have to assume for the sake of the modeling utilities that all of that will be funded through either cash or loans,” Bertaut said. “However, we are in the background aggressively pursuing other funding sources, including grants.”
Under the codified schedule, water and sewer rates would increase according to the following projections:
- FY 2027: 16.5% water, 14.5% sewer (previously adopted)
- FY 2028: 35% water, 32% sewer
- FY 2029: 35% water, 19% sewer
- FY 2030: 35% water, 3.5% sewer
- FY 2031: 25% water, 3% sewer
- FY 2032: 7% water, 3% sewer
Town officials noted the projections could change in future years depending on grant awards, outside funding sources, project costs and technological advancements that may reduce infrastructure expenses.
Comments
Any name-calling and profanity will be taken off. The webmaster reserves the right to remove any offensive posts.
1 Comment
Throughout the campaign, we repeatedly heard the promise that Purcellville would not impose the kind of double digit utility rate increases that others were recommending. It was an appealing promise, and I understand why residents wanted to believe it.
For the last two years, the Mayberry four have tried to find another path. It pursued operational efficiencies, grants, refinancing, transfers, and other alternatives in an effort to avoid the rate increases everyone hoped could be avoided. Last year, utility rates were even reduced by roughly 8% for both water and sewer, widening the gap between recurring revenues and recurring costs and exacerbating the problem.
But after two years of searching for another answer, the financial reality has become increasingly difficult to ignore. The Town’s credit rating has been downgraded, the outlook is now negative, and the current administration ultimately adopted the very kind of double digit utility rate increases it campaigned against.
There is nothing shameful about discovering that an assumption was wrong. In fact, good leadership requires the humility to acknowledge when reality proves you mistaken. The problem is not that the original promise couldn’t be kept. The problem is continuing to suggest there is another solution after two years of evidence pointing in the opposite direction.
I genuinely respect the desire to keep utility bills as affordable as possible. I also appreciate the effort to honor campaign promises. Those are admirable goals. But eventually every leader reaches a point where they must ask whether continuing to pursue an unworkable solution is doing more harm than good.
At what point do we simply acknowledge that the original assessment was incorrect?
Leadership is not measured by never being wrong. Leadership is measured by recognizing when the facts have changed, adjusting course, and being honest with the public about why.
Continuing to force a square peg into a round hole doesn’t change the shape of the hole. It only damages the peg and, in this case, risks damaging the Town’s long term financial health in the process.