Centreville council hears Stantec rate study as $39M wastewater upgrade looms

Centreville officials spent the bulk of their April 16 meeting focused on a water and sewer rate study tied to a proposed wastewater‑treatment plant upgrade.

Dave Heider, a consultant with Stantec, told the council the town’s five‑year financial model assumes a $39 million base cost for the treatment upgrade, roughly $14 million in anticipated grants, about $7.7 million could come from sewer allocation fees, and the remainder would be borrowed (Stantec modeled $17 million in state revolving loans at roughly 2 percent over 30 years). The study projects a rate plan that would increase water charges about 7.5 percent and sewer charges about 12.5 percent over 2027–2031 compared with present charges; under the consultant’s recommended scenario a household using 6,000 gallons per quarter would see the water/sewer portion of its bill rise from about $2.41 to about $3.56 per unit in the model’s example.

Heider said the firm ran alternatives (including keeping the current rate structure versus moving to a usage‑only structure) and that the two main drivers are capital costs and how much fixed revenue the town needs to maintain minimum cash reserves and debt‑service coverage. He noted some costs remain a moving target and that the model used the town’s 2027 budget as a baseline for operating assumptions.

At public comment, Tim McCloskey (self‑identified as a senator) urged the council to reject capacity expansion now and criticized the projected debt burden and rate increases. McCloskey said the town’s current debt load is about $8.3 million and asserted expansion could add “between $17 and $43 million” and lead to substantial utility‑rate increases; the council did not adopt those figures as findings but heard the remarks as part of public comment.

Council members repeatedly asked for more granular scenarios, noting the $39 million figure does not include some potential costs such as outfall work and permitting requirements from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). Council members and staff requested a follow‑up work session to narrow assumptions, compare Centreville’s total utility bills to similarly sized municipalities, test phasing options (modular expansion), and include Whitman, Requardt & Associates (whom council identified as another engineering partner) in future modeling.

Town staff and the consultant highlighted that allocation fees are intended to have growth “pay for growth” and recommended increasing the sewer allocation fee under an incremental‑cost approach to about $10,910 per EDU; Heider noted that calculation assumes using allocation fees collected for that purpose and does not assign all fees to this project by default.

Council members emphasized several constraints: the town has statutory annual rate increases baked into ordinance, capital costs are volatile, and officials want realistic comparisons to towns of similar size so the public can see the total utility bill in context. The council scheduled a targeted work session to review modeling scenarios, comparable municipal bills, phasing options and communications materials before any ordinance or formal vote on rates or project financing.

The next procedural steps announced were additional financial modeling from Stantec, a work session with staff and engineers, and further outreach on grant and borrowing possibilities; council members asked staff to include the town’s lobbyist and county partners where appropriate.

Sources: presentation and Q&A by Dave Heider (Stantec); public comment by Tim McCloskey; council discussion and requests for a follow‑up work session. The council did not take a formal vote on the plant funding or on rate changes at the April 16 meeting.