Commissioners OK a 3-year utility rate schedule, and new airport hangar and parking rates

New rates for hangar rentals and other services at Hagerstown Regional Airport won approval from the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, but without some of the added fees initially proposed, and a new three-year rate schedule for water and sewer service was also approved.

Because of increasing costs for services, Airport Director Neil Doran had sought approval to implement fees to cover Dumpster costs, security badges, airport maintenance, after-hours fire and rescue services and miscellaneous operations fees in addition to a 4% hike in hangar rentals.

But after complaints from airport vendors about many of the fees during a public hearing May 7, the commissioners directed Doran to rethink the added fees, so he did.

Except for one.

At some point during Fiscal Year 2025, which begins July 1, the airport will charge parking fees at the terminal after the first hour. The maximum daily rate will be $5.

Doran told The Herald-Mail parking will remain free until gates and collection machines are installed, perhaps for a few months.

The lot is open to the airline patrons or others, such as commuters, who want to use the more secure, gated parking lot, he said. Local customers of the terminal rental car agency could, in some cases, have their tickets validated by the rental car staff, which would make their parking free.

Visitors to the airport administrative offices that have business with the airport could also ask that their parking be validated, Doran said.

The new T-hangar rental fees are expected to generate $21,110 in additional revenue for the airport, which is operated under an enterprise fund, separate from the county's General Fund and financed primarily by fees for services, leases and by state and federal grants rather than local taxes.

Doran said last week the airport's FY 2025 budget will not require county funding.

Three years of utility rates

The commissioners also approved water and sewer rates for Fiscal Years 2025, 2026 and 2026. Rates will rise incrementally during those fiscal years, but CFO Kelcee Mace has said they will be revisited each year.

"Having rates set for multiple years will provide clear direction for the budget as well as letting ratepayers know what to expect in the upcoming years," she said.

The first set of new rates are effective July 1. Here's how they break down:

For full-service residential and volunteer service customers, the 6,000-gallon base rate would go up $6.95 per quarter, from $108.35 to $115.30. Rates per 1,000 gallons beyond base usage would increase 61 cents to $14.22.

Commercial I full-service base rates would rise by $9.47 per quarter to $117.90 per quarter, but the rate per 1,000 gallons beyond the base would remain at $12.47.

The base rate for Commercial II full-service customers would rise by $4 per quarter, to $158.65, but the rate for usage beyond the base would remain at $11.24 per gallon.

For non-metered accounts, the quarterly rate would go up by $10.61 to $200.62 per quarter.

Sewer rates are also a bit higher. For residential and volunteer service customers, the base rate — again, for 6,000 gallons — would increase by $7.90 to $140.90. Usage beyond the base would be billed at $8.63 per 1,000 gallons, an increase of 49 cents.

For Commercial I customers, the proposed base rate is $146.26 per quarter, up $8.28. Usage beyond the base would be $9.60, an increase of 91 cents.

The proposed base rate for Commercial II and II customers would be $149.21 per quarter, up $8.45. For each 1,000 gallons beyond the base, the rates would be $10.18 for Commercial II, up 30 cents; and would remain the same for Commercial III customers at $6.79.

Sewer rates for non-metered accounts will rise by $10.97 to $192.68 per quarter.

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In Fiscal Years 2026 and 2027, Mace said, the recommended increase for sewer rates would be 3.5% per year. For water rates, the increase would be 5% per year.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: New county utility rates set, parking fees coming to the airport