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Worcester County explains FY26 water and sewer rate changes after residents report large bills
Summary
County officials said FY26 rates are intended to address years of deferred maintenance, regulatory testing (including PFAS), and capital upgrades; presenters and residents debated notice, bill impacts, and the appeals process during a lengthy Q&A.
WORCESTER COUNTY, Md. — Worcester County officials outlined the reasons for steep new water and sewer charges as residents and business owners described surprise at large bills during the county commissioners’ Dec. 2 meeting.
Public Works and county administration said the FY26 rate structure shifts usage charges to an EDU-based, tiered system to cover operations, increasing regulatory costs, and a backlog of deferred maintenance across 11 sanitary service areas. Staff said the county’s earlier practice of underfunding those enterprise funds left many systems unable to pay for needed capital work and regulatory testing.
Quinn and Bob Mitchell of Public Works said examples include emergency repairs and upgrades at the Ocean Pines plant (cleaning of Treatment Unit 4, broken mixer hardware) and new permit-driven testing for PFAS, which added tens of thousands of dollars in sampling costs. Mitchell…
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