May 31 2008
It sure is expensive to flush (but it ain’t my money)
The Daily Progress has an article about swelling fees for new sewer connections (Builders to see swell in fees | Charlottesville Daily Progress) Here’s a quote:
In Albemarle, a developer or anyone building a new house needing sewer and water connections will pay $14,079, including other fees specific to Albemarle, starting Sept. 1. This year they paid $11,790. The city of Charlottesville’s fees are generally about $1,000 less for residential units, though the proposed fees, which would increase, have not yet been adopted by the City Council.
I have a couple thoughts:
First, while $14K is a lot of money, it is paid by the user. I’m a fan of me not paying for someone else’s sewer. It’s high but I guess it’s expensive to run a municipal sewer system.
Second: $14K is a ton of money… I had no idea. I recently had estimates done for a septic system and it was between $2 and $6K depending on what kind. And that’s pretty much a one time fee. There is some periodic maintenance but very little. And if you need to have a lagoon because of soil quality it’s unsightly. But it’s way cheaper. Even cheaper still I’d bet if you could share a larger system with a few neighbors (though people with septic tend to have far-off neighbors).