Title
A RESOLUTION CONCERNING THE WASHINGTON SUBURBAN SANITARY COMMISSION for the purpose of modifying the System Development Charge (SDC) to help finance the capital costs of expanding and augmenting water and sewage systems to accommodate service to subscribers in the Washington Suburban Sanitary District (WSSD) and to provide a financing mechanism to aid the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (Commission) in paying for the capital projects thereof by providing methods and procedures by which the SDC is to be implemented and/or collected.
Background
Section 25-402 of the Public Utilities Article of the Maryland Annotated Code authorizes the imposition of a System Development Charge (SDC) fee, and Section 25-403 provides that Montgomery and Prince George’s County Councils shall meet annually to discuss and approve the SDC fee. The Councils met on May 8, 2025 and agreed to increase the SDC fee, and the maximum allowable ceiling by a percentage equal to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the prior calendar year. The CPI for November 2023 to November 2024 increased by 2.5%.
The Commission is increasing the SDC Fee for the first time since FY 2000 (July 1999). This action increases the base System Development Charge for water supply fixtures with an assigned fixture value of 1 from $88.00 to $90.00, and increases the base System Development Charge for a sewage drainage fixture with an assigned drainage fixture unit value of 1 from $115.00 to $118.00.
This action also provides the Commission with the flexibility in future fiscal years to increase the base System Development Charge for water supply fixtures with an assigned fixture value of 1 from $90.00 to a maximum of $160.00, and the base System Development Charge for a sewage drainage fixture with an assigned drainage fixture unit value of 1 from $118.00 to a maximum of $209.00.