Bel Air receives fee-schedule amendment and approves Harford County sewer agreement addendum

The Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners on June 2 received a proposed amendment to the town’s fee schedule and unanimously approved an addendum to the 1988 Harford County–Town Sewer Service Agreement that sets the county bulk user charge and related fees for fiscal year 2025.

Staff told the board the town must adopt the county’s annual charges as a contractual addendum under the 1988 agreement. Miss Moody, town staff, explained the FY25 user charge will be $5.36 per 1,000 gallons and the enhanced nutrient removal (ENR) fee will be $0.14 per 1,000 gallons. Separately, the system development fee (collected on behalf of Harford County) will change from 10,803 to 11,289 per 30 fixture units; staff said that increase equals the county’s 4.5% annual adjustment and will take effect July 1, 2025.

Miss Moody said the user-charge increase (10¢ per 1,000 gallons from FY24’s $5.26) reflects higher county expenses calculated under the 1988 agreement; staff reviewed the county’s supporting documents and recommended approval. Commissioners discussed that the town acts as a pass-through for county charges and cannot unilaterally stop the county’s adjustments. No members of the public spoke on the addendum; the board approved the addendum by unanimous roll-call vote and received Resolution 12-53-25 (town fee schedule amendments) for later public hearing. Mr. Krantz announced the roll-call votes: Commissioners Rutledge, Chismar, Taylor and Chair Eddings recorded “Aye.”

Town staff noted the incremental nature of the increases and said the town did not budget the new charges into the FY25 customer rate; staff said it will evaluate FY26 rates once county charges are finalized.