The public hearing on increased rates and fees for the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District took place last night, Thursday February 15 in the PAWSD board room, to a standing-room-only crowd of concerned taxpayers.
(Disclosure: I currently serve as a volunteer member of the PAWSD Board of Directors, but this editorial reflects only my own opinions and not necessarily the opinions of the Board as a whole, or of any other Board members.)
Board President Jim Smith started the meeting off by asking for approval of the agenda, and then opened the floor to public testimony and questions, limiting each person to three minutes. He told the audience that the Board would note their questions and ideas, but would not give any responses until later in the meeting, when we reached Agenda Item 8.
8. Consideration of 2024 Water & Wastewater Rate Increases
About a dozen PAWSD customers shared their concerns about the rate increases and fee increases, which had been the subject of Board discussions for the past couple of years but especially, over the past 6 months. The Board had been working closely with global engineering firm Stantec, to come up with reasonable and fair fees and rates that will allow PAWSD to continue paying its salaries and invoices.
Several of the speakers — including Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation (PSCDC) executive director Emily Lashbrooke, and Pagosa Area Association of Realtors (PSAAR) president Blue Lindner — were concerned that the Capital Investment Fees for new homes would be especially harmful to efforts to develop attainable or affordable workforce housing.
The CIF for a new home being built within the PAWSD wastewater district uptown, was set to increase from $6,532 to $24,655. This fee will apply mainly to properties within the Pagosa Lakes Property Owners Association (PLPOA) subdivisions.
For a new home that hooks up to PAWSD drinking water, but uses the Town sewer system or some other non-PAWSD wastewater system, the CIF will increase from $5,353 to $8,958.
As Ms. Lindner and Ms. Lashbrooke noted, wealthier home buyers will be able to afford these higher fees, but Pagosa’s typical working families will likely find these higher fees to be an obstacle to home ownership. Ms. Lashbrooke claimed that the higher fees might hinder PSCDC’s effort to build 40 ‘middle income’ homes over the next four years, in the Trails and Chris Mountain subdivisions.
As Board member Glenn Walsh reminded the audience, PAWSD created a fee waiver policy several years ago, to support workforce and affordable housing. Housing that serves local households earning 60% Area Median Income (AMI) or less can ask to have their CIF fees waived. Housing that serves 80% AMI or less can have 50% of the fees waived.
Unfortunately, PSCDC is apparently planning to build more expensive homes, that do not qualify for these waivers.
Several Short-Term Rental owners objected to the Stantec finding that an STR, on average, puts a heavier burden on the PAWSD wastewater treatment facility than does the average residential home. The new rate schedule was proposing to charge STRs a higher sewer fee than non-STR homes. Again, this rate will apply mainly to STRs within PLPOA, where the majority of the community’s STRs are located.
Several of the speakers asked if the fee and rate increases could be delayed, to allow PAWSD to seek grants and alternative funding mechanisms.
As it turns out, the higher fees and rates were scheduled to be approved last month, but a mistake in the public notice delayed the approval until February. I assume your March water bill, or water/wastewater bill, will show the new rates.
As you might have guessed — and as several of the audience speakers predicted — the PAWSD Board did, indeed, approve the higher rates and fees.
You can see all the new fees in this PDF.
Customers will now pay $32.38 per month (instead of $31.44) as the base water charge, plus a slightly increased fee per 1,000 gallons.
Wastewater customers will now pay $42.64 per month (instead of $32.80). STRs will pay $59.70 per month.
One of the other items on the agenda:
10. Consideration of County Request for PAWSD Customer Data Related to Short-Term Rentals
The Archuleta County government has been wondering, for the past several years, whether residential homes that have been converted into STRs are negatively impacting our community due to their typically higher occupancy numbers, increased numbers of vehicles, and other factors.
The PAWSD Board agreed to discuss the County request for PAWSD Customer Data at a special work session, on March 7 at 2pm.
Also to be discussed at that special work session: a letter from the San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) that apparently accused PAWSD of violating a 2016 three-way agreement related to the development of the Dry Gulch Reservoir. That apparent accusation will likely be discussed with the PAWSD attorney, in an executive session, on March 7.
A couple of other interesting topics — such as the idea of allowing gravel mining to continue on the Running Iron Ranch — will likely be taken up at that same work session.
Work sessions are public meetings, and the public is invited to attend. Executive sessions, however, are held behind closed doors.