MetCom presents scaled-back 2017 capital plan and outlines rate changes, drawing questions on hookup fees and debt

Metropolitan Commission executive director Scott Lundy presented the utility's revised fiscal 2017 capital improvement plan on April 19, telling the St. Mary's County commissioners the agency had scaled back and re‑timed projects to match staff capacity and funding.

The commission's capital plan reduces near‑term work on some projects and stages larger items farther into the future, while proposing rate‑structure changes MetCom says will align charges with usage and help fund upgrades. “We've listened to a lot of comments from the county commissioners and we have scaled back considerably,” Lundy said. “We've tried to align them better with the decade out and in some cases, multiple decades out.”

Why it matters: MetCom supplies drinking water and sewer service to parts of St. Mary's County. Its capital program and rate changes affect developers, homeowners and county budgets because hook‑up fees, system‑improvement charges and monthly service rates flow through residents' bills and influence where and when growth can occur.

Plan highlights and timing: Engineering chief David Alberti reviewed dozens of projects included in the packet. For water, projects listed for FY2017 include replacement of aging systems in Piney Point and Patuxent Park; phases of water main work tied to the FDR Boulevard realignment; two elevated storage tanks under construction (Hollywood and Charlotte Hall); and design money for a Greenbrier ground storage tank intended to serve about 426 equivalent dwelling units. Alberti said several projects are in design or under construction and that land‑acquisition issues hold up others, notably the Hickory Hills tank site where negotiations with a contract purchaser resumed within the past 90 days.

On the sewer side, projects for FY2017 include interceptor rehabilitation (Shangri La Drive to Colony Square and Pine Hill Run Road), manhole rehab, ongoing inspection and I&I work, and testing along a 9.6‑mile run of older ductile‑iron force main where repeated breaks have occurred. Alberti said the force‑main work is “a proactive project” to locate corrosion and reduce failure risk; crews are replacing heavily damaged sections now with HDPE.

Major pump‑station upgrades were presented for Great Mills, St. Mary's Square, Piney Point (including an equalization tank intended to relieve a connection moratorium) and Wildwood No. 2. Alberti said the Piney Point upgrades, when completed, will allow additional connections currently limited by the aging force main and undersized pump facilities.

Rates, bills and customer concerns: The meeting turned to a long public exchange over MetCom's new rate structure and billing practices. MetCom CFO Rebecca Schick and Lundy described a multi‑part rate that includes: a usage charge, a monthly ready‑to‑serve (overhead) charge, and a system‑improvement (capital contribution) charge earmarked for specific projects. MetCom staff said the system‑improvement charge pays for planned capital projects and that the reserves are maintained separately for water and sewer.

On irrigation and high summer usage, MetCom told commissioners it has proposed two customer protections in its FY2017 budget submission: a cap on sewer billing for irrigation (a 10,000‑gallon cap during irrigation months, as proposed) and an option to install a second irrigation meter that would be billed differently (MetCom is proposing eliminating the monthly service charge on a second meter if installed indoors rather than in a pit).

“We're proposing a cap of 10,000 [gallons],” MetCom said when describing mitigation of summer irrigation shock bills. Schick added that the second‑meter proposal and the cap are intended to ease the steep bills some irrigating customers reported.

Hookup fees and borrowing: Commissioners raised sharp questions about hookup fees and the commission's borrowing practices. A chart in the packet showed residential water+sewer connection fees that staff said were higher than earlier years; commissioners cited a 2015 handout showing a residential hookup total near $14,366 and projections that had some future hookup figures rising substantially.

Commissioners also pressed MetCom about undrawn borrowing — loans the commission has arranged but not yet spent — and about debt service. MetCom board members and staff acknowledged undrawn loan balances that relate primarily to projects delayed by right‑of‑way or site issues, notably some water‑tank and well projects. In response to county concerns, MetCom board members told the commissioners the agency “is not going to borrow a dime” until projects are ready to proceed. “We've made a decision ... we will not borrow until everything's ready to go into the ground,” a MetCom board representative said.

Debt, reserves and customer bills: MetCom reported that reserves for sewer capital contributions totaled about $4.6 million and water capital contributions about $1.2 million; staff said those funds are being held for specific, identified projects. CFO Schick said mid‑year operating results were roughly on target though slightly behind, and that MetCom expects spring irrigation to restore revenue. She said any unspent borrowed funds are typically invested at low short‑term yields until they are needed; commissioners expressed concern that long intervals between borrowing and project execution expose ratepayers to interest costs on “dead money.” MetCom said the largest unspent portions were tied to projects now moving forward and that recent bids for two tanks came in roughly $1 million below internal budget estimates.

Customer help and communication: MetCom agreed to meet personally with customers who bring disputed bills; staff described the meter‑test process, in which an independent certified test is charged to the customer if the meter is found accurate. MetCom also said it is reaching out to businesses and other customers whose meters exceed typical residential sizes, to ensure customers are on appropriately sized meters and charged correctly.

What to watch next: MetCom will update its facilities plan next year; commissioners requested more precise figures showing how many additional connections the Piney Point upgrades would permit. The county's public budget hearings and MetCom's own board reviews will determine whether the proposed caps, second‑meter rules and capital charges move forward unchanged.

Ending: Commissioners thanked the MetCom board and staff for the clearer, more phased presentation and asked staff to provide additional, project‑level detail for residents and developers who requested it. "If any of you have concerns, please come to us," Lundy said, offering to meet with residents to explain bills and projects.