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Troutdale restaurateur tells council he believes sewer 'system development charge' overcharged him by about $70,000
Summary
During public comment, restaurateur Al Pompeo said Troutdale’s method for assessing sewer/system development charges for restaurants overstates per-seat impact for larger restaurants and asked the city to revise rates to reflect capacity and real water use.
At the Oct. 28 meeting, restaurateur Al Pompeo used the public-comment period to urge the council to revisit how Troutdale calculates system development charges (SDCs) and sewer charges for restaurants.
Pompeo said the city’s current approach charges a per-seat factor that does not account for economies of scale in larger restaurants. "When the restaurant is bigger and they have more seating, it's more efficient to use the water," Pompeo said, adding that his own operation has two high-efficiency dishwashers and reports relatively low water use compared with how the code charges by seat. He told council, "For the last 17 years, I pay around $70,000 more than it's supposed to be."
Pompeo cited industry studies and argued the per-seat charge should decline for larger establishments because water used per seat tends to fall as restaurant size grows. He urged the city to charge by capacity and actual likely impact rather than by square footage.
Mayor Ritma and staff acknowledged the complexity and said staff is working on the issue and will factor in the concern that larger restaurants may use water more efficiently. No formal action was taken at the meeting; staff indicated the topic is under review as part of broader rate and SDC work.
Ending: Staff said they will continue work on SDCs and sewer-rate methodology and consider capacity- or impact-based alternatives; the council did not take action at the meeting.
