The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC Water) is a bi-county agency directed by a board of six commissioners, three each from Prince George's County and Montgomery County. The commissioners are appointed by the respective jurisdiction's Executive and confirmed by its County Council.WSSC Water is responsible for providing water and sanitary sewer service within the Washington Suburban Sanitary District, which includes most of Montgomery and Prince George's Counties and which, in Montgomery County, excludes the Town of Poolesville and portions of the City of Rockville.The principal objective of the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) is the programming of...

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AGENCY DESCRIPTION

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC Water) is a bi-county agency directed by a board of six commissioners, three each from Prince George's County and Montgomery County. The commissioners are appointed by the respective jurisdiction's Executive and confirmed by its County Council.

WSSC Water is responsible for providing water and sanitary sewer service within the Washington Suburban Sanitary District, which includes most of Montgomery and Prince George's Counties and which, in Montgomery County, excludes the Town of Poolesville and portions of the City of Rockville.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

The principal objective of the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) is the programming of planning, design, land acquisition, and construction activities on a yearly basis for major water and sewerage facilities. These facilities may be necessary for system improvements and/or service to existing customers, to comply with Federal and/or State environmental mandates, and to support new development in accordance with the counties' approved plans and policies for orderly growth and development.

The CIP submission includes all major projects, defined as extensions, projects, or programs involving water and sewer facilities. Major projects include: water mains 16 inches in diameter or larger, sewer mains 15 inches in diameter or larger, water or sewage pumping stations, force mains, storage facilities, and other major facilities.

The section following this narrative ordinarily shows only the WSSC Water project description forms (PDFs) for which the Executive recommends changes to the Commission's request. Those PDFs would be preceded by project briefs which provide a description of the change and the Executive's rationale. The complete set of PDFs submitted by the Commission can be found on the WSSC Water website at http://www.wsscwater.com.

In addition, a report noting the Commission's request by project follows the same report outlining the County Executive's recommendation by project. For this year's proposed CIP budget, these additional documents will not follow this narrative given that the Executive is not recommending changes to the budget proposed by WSSC Water.

PROGRAM CONTACTS

Contact Brian Halloran of WSSC Water's Budget Division at 301.206.8214 or Rafael Pumarejo Murphy of the Office of Management and Budget at 240.777.2775 for more information regarding this agency's capital budget.

CAPITAL PROGRAM REVIEW

This narrative applies only to the Montgomery County and bi-county water and sewerage projects. Projects that serve only Prince George's County are not included.

Agency Request

The total of $2.47 billion in six-year expenditures proposed by the WSSC Water for FY23-28 is $388.1 million (18.6 percent) above the FY22-27 approved total of $2.08 billion. The increase in six-year costs is the net result of: 1) cost changes in both the water and sewer projects; 2) prior deferral of CIP costs that were unaffordable in FY20, FY21, and FY22 which are now deferred into FY23-28; and 3) new projects which focus on critical system and facility maintenance.

The FY23-28 CIP request includes 55 ongoing projects, 11 closeout projects, and 5 pending closeout projects. There are 13 new projects (including Information Only projects).

The following table compares the proportion of funding for Montgomery, Prince George's, and bi-county projects in the Commission's proposed CIP:

Executive Recommendation

The County Executive recommends adoption of the FY23-28 CIP as proposed by WSSC Water.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Add three new Montgomery County Sewer projects that upgrade critical waste water pump stations and force mains that are reaching the end of their functional life expectancy.
• Add two new information only projects that maintain WSSC Water's service capacity, including improving the resiliency of critical facilities to climate change impacts.
• Continue development of capital projects aimed to address long-term issues in water and sewer management.
• Continue construction of the Piscataway Bio Energy Project that addresses biosolids management while generating renewable energy.
• Continue water and sewer line infrastructure reconstruction, replacing and rehabilitating 37 miles of water mains and 26 miles of sewer main in FY23.
• Continue to address the consent decrees with the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) related to the Potomac Water Filtration Plant and the Trunk Sewer Reconstruction Program.
• Continue to support operations at DC Water's facility in Blue Plains. Support for Blue Plains projects represents 25.9% of the bi-county and Montgomery County's WSSC Water six-year CIP.

SPENDING CONTROL LIMITS

In order to reduce the magnitude of water and sewer rate increases, the Montgomery and Prince George's County Councils adopted a spending affordability process in April 1994. The process requires the counties to set annual ceilings on WSSC Water's water and sewer rates and debt (both bonded indebtedness and debt service), and then to adopt corresponding limits on the size of the capital and operating budgets.

While the spending limits technically apply only to the first year of the six-year program, the purpose of the limits includes controlling debt, debt service, and rate increases over the longer term. The FY23 spending control limits adopted by the Montgomery County Council are shown below with their outyear projections. For FY23, while WSSC Water proposed a 9% rate increase and the County Executive recommended a 7% increase, the Montgomery and Prince George's County Councils set a 6.5% rate increase.

The chart below list the various spending control limits for FY23 and outyear projections for FY24-28.

WSSC WATER'S LEVEL OF BONDED INDEBTEDNESS

Debt Service

The County Executive and County Council monitor WSSC Water's bonded indebtedness and debt service level. Total outstanding water and sewer bond debt has risen 43.4 percent since FY17, and total water and sewer debt service is up 30.5 percent over the same period, as shown in the following table: