California, MD – During the public forum of St. Mary’s Metropolitan Commission (MetCom) business meeting held Jan. 26, Charlotte Hall-based developer John Parlett presented the commissioners with eye-opening information about their fiscal year 2018 (FY’ 18) connection fees. Parlett presented a Water and Sewer Connection Cost Comparison report which revealed the extreme differences in costs for commercial development in St. Mary’s County versus Anne Arundel, Charles and Calvert counties.
The report revealed MetCom’s FY ’18 connection fees for a commercial developer would be approximately 100 percent higher than Anne Arundel County, which was the next highest out of the ones compared. Parlett presented four case studies of completed commercial projects in St. Mary’s County with the proposed fees for FY ’18 as they compared to Anne Arundel, Charles, and Calvert counties. The case study comparison gave the total cost for sewer and water per building square footage (s.f.) according to MetCom’s required number of equivalent dwelling units (EDUs). One of “Most dramatic differences is the comparisons of how much the connection fees have made up MetCom’s total budget,” said Parlett.
A commercial project example of the grave differences in sewer and water connection fees that would be proposed for FY ’18 was given for the California location of Olive Garden. This 7,539 s.f. project would require 14 (25 gallons per EDU) MetCom EDUs, and be charged a proposed fee of $32,645 each. The total proposed MetCom Connection fee (FY ’18) is – $457.031, which is 31.9 percent of their total budget. However, the exact same building in Anne Arundel County would require 14 EDUs at $18,287 each, totaling fee – $256,018, which is 17.9 percent of their total budget. In Calvert County, the same building would require 18 EDUs at $8,400 each, and the total fee is 1$51,200, which is 10.8 percent of their budget. The same building in Charles County would require a 2-inch water meter and cost $107,608 is connection fees, which is a total of 7.5 percent of their overall budget.
A complete chart showing the water and sewer connection charge comparison between St. Mary’s, Charles, Calvert, and Anne Arundel Counties can be found below.
Contact Shertina Mack at s.mack@TheBayNet.com