Dorchester effort to draw jobs would increase sewer, water rates

ST. GEORGE — Dorchester County's latest plan to draw more industries includes a hefty increase in sewer and water bills.

The county wants to buy and expand the St. George sewer plant, hopefully to lure some new industries along interstates 26 and 95.

The expansion would raise sewer and water bills throughout the county by $16.55 a month, a 33 percent increase, according to figures in the proposed budget that County Council must approve by the end of June.

Council endorsed a resolution to buy the plant last July. Buying the plant would not cost most customers anything extra, although rates in St. George would gradually increase to match the county's standard rates.

But expanding the plant would raise rates throughout the county, and that's not likely to go over well around Summerville, said Council Chairman Larry Hargett, who represents the Oakbrook area. Hargett said he was surprised to see the proposed rate increases in the budget recently.

"I'm very concerned," he said. "The problem I have is asking all the current customers to help pay for it. I know the people in my district won't support it. We've got a lot of soul searching to do on this one."

The average sewer bill would increase from $34.80 to $43.40 a month. The average water bill would increase from $15.80 to $23.75 a month.

The county wants to buy the St. George plant because the town can't afford to expand it. The county is offering the town $1.9 million and some of the county's water service territory, which could bring the town more money with new customers.

To buy the plant, the Dorchester County Economic Development Fund would pay $1 million and the additional $900,000 would come from the county's contingency fund, County Administrator Jason Ward said. Sewer rates in St. George would go up about $10 a month, phased in over seven years, for repairs.

Most of the proposed rate hikes for the rest of the county would pay for expanding the St. George sewer plant, although they also would finance a couple of projects around Summerville.

Expanding the St. George sewer plant to handle another million gallons a day would cost $9.4 million, according to the budget figures. Or the county could spend $11.2 million to build a new sewer plant in the upper part of the county.

The rate hikes also would raise $2.4 million to upgrade pump stations in Knightsville, Jedburg and Ridgeville, $1.2 million to expand the county's sewer plant in North Charleston to handle an additional 2 million gallons a day and $55,000 for easements to widen Dorchester Road, Ward said.

The sewer plant deal faced a rocky road in St. George. The issue was whether the town should hold a referendum on the sale.

State law says a town should hold a vote before selling a sewer plant. But the law also says 25 percent of the town's property holders have to sign a petition requesting the referendum. The town's lawyers cited an opinion from the attorney general's office saying it's unconstitutional to say only property holders can sign a petition because that excludes voters who don't own property.

At the end of April, Town Council passed a resolution saying there would not be referendum and that they would proceed with the sale after a public hearing. Council held a public hearing last week. More than 100 attended, and a majority indicated they favored the sale, Mayor Anne Johnston said.

The decision left a group of residents unhappy but not likely to fight it.

"It would take too much time and money to challenge it," said Tom Atkins, one of those urging the town to hold a referendum. "I was not opposed to selling our sewer system, but they usurped our right to vote."

The county has been talking for years about ways to upgrade sewer capacity to draw more industries around St. George. Last year, council considered a $90 million proposal to run sewer lines from the North Charleston plant to St. George. Council dropped the idea after a public outcry over the cost and the effect of taking sewer lines through rural areas of the county.

Reach Dave Munday at dmunday@postandcourier.com or 745-5862.