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Delaware County wastewater board approves joining countywide lien-assist system, sets $25 administrative fee
Summary
Board heard a demonstration of SRI’s lien-assist service that centralizes lien tracking, agreed the vendor charges a $5 per-lien fee and approved a district administrative fee structure (example: $20 to district, $5 to vendor; $25 total) to avoid burdening other ratepayers.
The Delaware County Regional Wastewater Board on Jan. 5 heard a presentation on a vendor-run lien-assist program from staff member Danielle that would centralize lien placement and release tracking for the district and other local entities.
Danielle said the system would give district staff a shared online tracker and reduce manual steps: "The program seems like it functions very easily," she told the board during the demonstration. She added that SRI charges a $5 fee for each property lien the vendor places: "There's a $5 fee, though, for every property that they place a lien on." (Transcript excerpts.)
Why it matters: staff said the district has missed liens or delayed processing in cases when a lien was not recorded promptly, which can prevent acknowledgment of the lien during a property closing. Danielle presented a draft ordinance and an addendum describing the vendor service and proposed using an administrative lien fee charged only to properties subject to liens to offset vendor and administrative costs rather than spreading the cost across all ratepayers.
Board discussion focused on workload, deterrence and parity with county practice. Danielle outlined one sample split discussed by staff: $25 total per lien with $5 going to the vendor and $20 retained by the district to cover administrative costs. Board members said the figure could be adjusted but indicated the need to avoid shifting costs to the broader rate base.
A motion to set a district administrative fee (the district portion at $20, making a $25 total with $5 to the vendor in the example Danielle provided) was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote. Staff said there is no requirement that the district join the program but urged action to avoid falling behind other local entities using SRI.
Next steps: Danielle will clean up the draft language, check references where the document uses "town" versus "district," and return with proposed ordinance language and specific fee figures for formal introduction and possible adoption at a future meeting.
