Page 4 The Public Record • March 29, 2012 www.phillyrecord.com • 215-755-2000
Will Water Dept. Send Businesses Down The Drain?
by Tony West Kerry Pacifico, Sr. opened his water bill earlier this month and his jaw dropped. In 2010, it had carried a line item of $13.22 for a “stormwater charge.” Now that same line read “$538.54.” It will get worse. And none of it pays for the water his company, Pacifico Ford in Southwest Philadelphia, is using. It pays for the rainwater that flows down his storm drains instead. By 2014, Pacifico will be paying $1063.41 a month for those drains. This could mean stormy weather indeed for Pacifico and many other businesses. Water rates have been rising for years. That’s because of fundamental changes in the way the Philadelphia Water Dept. handles and accounts for stormwater. This process has been slow, and alerts went out long in advance. But the rise for some classes of customers is accelerating. Now, a dam of popular reaction is about to burst. This
month, a round of new assessments was mailed out. Commercial rate-payers with large acreage of impervious paved surface cry they are being clobbered by water charges that have already quadrupled – with more to come and no end in sight. They charge they are being discriminated against and they warn entire industries may wink out of existence if they don’t get relief. Some contend their properties are now unsellable. City Council President Darrell Clarke heard these complaints and took action. Two weeks ago, he introduced legislation that would allow for a change in the way water rates are charged. “Right now, PWD can petition for a raise in rates every four years, pretty much at their own behest,” explained Clarke’s aide William Carter. “The Council President would like to see more participation in this process by the public and by elected officials.” Clarke has had some meet-
STORM DRAINS are a major and costly part of Water Dept.’s business. New method of charging for its costs will redo the real-estate map of this city, with major winners – and losers. ings with PWD regarding their latest round of increases, and “we’re really not clear how they’ve arrived at these numbers,” continued Carter. PWD is in the midst of a four-year process to change how rate-payers cover the costs of its vast, aging com-
bined system of storm and sewage lines. Meter usage – how much water customers buy – has always been the source of its revenues. But many costs the utility faces don’t stem from the water you draw; they stem from the water that falls on your prop-
erty and runs off. This cost is built into your land, and the amount of impervious surface on it. Rain that falls onto your lawn soaks into the soil; rain that falls onto your driveway runs into the gutter. Your water rates never used to pay for that runoff; now they will. After years of mapping, PWD has determined every land parcel’s “IA/GA” (Impervious Area/Gross Area). As of 2012, stormwater costs have been 50% reallocated from water-buyers to landowners. By 2014, land-owners will be paying 100% of stormwater costs. This dramatic change has, among other things, nearly doubled the number of PGW’s customers. New on its billing rolls are 23,447 parcels of land which had no water service. Previously, their owners had paid nothing to maintain the storm drains. Now they will be paying. This change was initially driven by customer complaints, explained PGW
spokeswoman Joanne Dahme. “Large users pointed out they were paying off their meters for parts of the system they weren’t responsible for,” she said. “The new billing method is fairer.” The change is supposed to be revenue-neutral. The average homeowner won’t notice much difference. But many large commercial properties are seeing vast swings in their costs. Big winners, in general, are “vertical” properties with lots of plumbing stacked on top of a small footprint, and properties with large lawns. “Eds and meds” – care facilities and universities – come out ahead in this switch. Losers are often “horizontal” properties – those with small water consumption but large areas of paved surface. Auto dealers, shopping centers, factories and warehouses are being hurt. Those operating on tight margins could be driven out of business. Their property values will plummet; in some cases, it’s not clear (Cont. Page 23)