Water and Sewer Rate Information

The Town of Strasburg provides water and sewer services to residents within town limits. See our Frequently Asked Questions below or contact the Strasburg Town Office for more information.

Water and Sewer

The Town of Strasburg constructed new water and wastewater plants in, 2013 and 2015 respectively, in order to meet state and federal standards, resulting in debt service payments. The costs to treat water and wastewater are affected by inflationary increases. The Town Council has made a conscious effort to gradually phase in higher rates to reduce the impact to households; these rates will not go into effect until January 1st, 2021, to allow time for community recovery.

Administrative Fee

To provide water and sewer services to Town residents, the Town incurs certain fixed costs that do not change if a customer uses more or less water. These include but are not limited to: reading meters, preparing bills, collecting payments, certain employee salaries, debt service, etc. Administrative fees are intended to cover those costs more accurately.

The current budget includes a $3.00 administrative fee for both the water and sewer funds which are included in the minimum amounts. Below is what a typical minimum bill will be.

	Current Bill (In Town)	Current Bill (Out of Town)
Minimum Bill Water	$25.57	$35.80
Minimum Bill Sewer	$26.02	$37.13
Trash	$13.38
Total	$64.97	$72.93

*Recycling services will not be provided after July 1st, 2020.

Water and Wastewater Rate Survey

While Strasburg’s rates may seem high, when compared to similarly sized towns, Strasburg’s water and sewer rates are competitive. Please see the Water and Wastewater Rate Survey prepared by Draper Aden Associates to see how Strasburg rates compare with other localities across Virginia: HERE

Large communities generally have more and larger users (customer base) which allows for an economy of scale to provide for lower rates.

Community Input

Town Council will be discussing the draft budget at the May 18th and June 1st Work Sessions. Meetings are currently being conducted via Zoom and comments can be submitted ahead of time as well. You can find additional information on how to participate HERE.

An Excel spreadsheet that shows how billing units can change even though usage remains the same can be found here.

Waste Management

After Hours Contact

Phone:

Email:

Frequently Asked Questions

How can Strasburg increase rates when everyone is struggling with the impacts of COVID-19?

Town Council is particularly sensitive and concerned about this and has decided to make the new fees effective as of January 1st 2021 instead of July 1st 2020, in order to allow more time for recovery.

Category: Water & Sewer

Why are water and sewer bills so expensive in Strasburg?

Large communities generally have more and larger users (customer base) which allows for an economy of scale to provide for lower rates.

Category: Water & Sewer

Why do rates always seem to go up?

The costs to treat water and wastewater are affected by inflationary increases. Additionally, the Town of Strasburg constructed new water and wastewater plants in, 2013 and 2015 respectively, in order to meet state and federal standards, resulting in debt service payments. Town Council has made a conscious effort to gradually phase in higher rates to reduce the impact to households but, all expenses for water and wastewater treatment should be covered by rates and not tax dollars.

Category: Water & Sewer

Why do rate increases need to happen now?

As responsible stewards of the community’s assets, water and sewer rates need to increase each year as the costs to operate increase. Both the water and sewer operating expenses have exceeded revenues in recent years resulting in a shortfall. For the sewer fund, that amount can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Town has also covered the difference between revenues and costs with tap fees from new construction or out of the respective savings accounts for these funds; however, that is not sustainable. Best practice advises having a less variable and more calculable revenue stream cover minimum operating expenses.

Category: Water & Sewer

Why is the Town charging a new administrative fee?

To provide water and sewer services to Town residents, the Town incurs certain fixed costs that do not change if a customer uses more or less water. These include but are not limited to: reading meters, preparing bills, collecting payments, certain employee salaries, debt service, etc. The new administrative fees are intended to cover those costs more accurately than the current charges do.

Category: Water & Sewer

What are the new rates exactly?

The current budget proposal includes a $3.00 administrative fee for both the water and sewer funds. Below is what that will look like on a typical minimum bill beginning on January 1st. There is not a rate increased proposed in addition to the new administrative fees.

	Current Bill	Bill with new Administrative fees
Minimum Bill Water	$25.57	$28.57
Minimum Bill Sewer	$22.02	$25.02
Trash & Recycling	$11.00	$11.95
Total	$58.59	$65.54