One part of the House Budget Bill that may deserve some attention is
a large increase in fees for community water systems and the expansion
of fees to include “non-transient, non-community” systems (such as schools, colleges, hospitals and factories).
Operators of non-community systems would pay $150 each year (what
community systems for 100 or fewer people currently pay). Community
systems would start at $225 per year and rise to $5,950 per year. The
top fee is currently $850. That means the largest community water
systems will pay seven (7) times more for the privilege of having
water. New fees are added for “approval of construction or alteration
of a community water system.” What makes this truly remarkable is that
“All fees collected under this section shall be applied to the costs of
administering and enforcing this Article.” It seems that it costs a lot
to inspect NTNC water systems and that cost is being placed on
community systems.
Oh yeah, this is in addition to the private well water inspections first passed by the Senate.
