Raleigh council in bout on drought

Crowder's aggressive proposals raise brows of Meeker and Isley

RALEIGH -- Three weeks after Mayor Charles Meeker introduced a flurry of water conservation proposals, another council member has taken an even more aggressive stance on the drought.

Councilman Thomas Crowder submitted his own extensive battle plan Wednesday, calling on the city to temporarily raise the fees it charges for water connections and to consider adopting "water capacity impact fees" to offset future utility costs.

The most far-reaching proposals are being called ill-advised and opportunistic by the lone Republican on the council.

"This is to me playing politics with the drought," Councilman Philip Isley said. "This is a de facto growth moratorium."

Adopting an impact fee for new water capacity would shift some of the cost burden from existing rate payers and would require extensive financial review by city staff.

The proposals are the latest surprise for a new council that has at times appeared in disarray. Meeker said Crowder's revenue measures would just be a distraction.

"Right now, the council should focus on water conservation, not alternative methods of financing the utility system," he said.

Crowder, who has been on the council since 2003, talks frequently of the need for sustainable development. He said his conservation measures, which number more than 15 and are broken into five categories, are designed to help the city avert having to halt development if the drought should worsen.

By linking impact fees to water capacity, Crowder has raised the question of how much Raleigh's current predicament relates to its recent growth. Bill Holman, a senior fellow at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, said such a debate will have to happen sooner or later.

"Better to start the public debate about growth and water than wait till 2030 when we don't have any options," Holman said.

Who pays for growth?

Crowder's proposals received a warm reception from members of the Public Works Committee on Wednesday. The committee includes two newly elected members, Rodger Koopman and Mary-Ann Baldwin, and a longtime ally of Crowder's, Russ Stephenson.

The committee voted unanimously to have city staff study raising the cost of adding water connections to the system.

Stephenson cited the October election as evidence that Raleigh residents are tired of subsidizing growth through property taxes and utility rates. That election resulted in two incumbents being voted out of office and replaced by candidates who supported doubling Raleigh's impact fees for parks and roads, which the council is expected to do this year.

"It's fairer that the new people coming in during this crisis should be the ones to be looked to to make up for lost revenue," Stephenson said. "Rate payers should not be subsidizing new capacity for people that haven't arrived yet."

This month the City Council killed a proposal put forward by Meeker that would have temporarily increased water rates for all customers by 50 percent. Stephenson said raising the water connection fee is a fairer way to make up for lost revenues.

"If you want to add on to the load of an already critically low water supply you should be willing to pay an additional surcharge," he said.

Raleigh sets its water rates each year based on how much revenue is needed to cover the cost of operating and expanding its system. In recent years, the water rates have increased 9 percent annually to pay for improvements being made to the system.

Jeff Hughes, director of the UNC environmental finance center, said impact fees on water and sewer connections are quite common.

Isley is worried about what fees his colleagues will think up next.

"How much more are we just going to keep piling on in the worst economy in my memory," he said. "This is my greatest fear from the election."