Wastewater Funding Source

The funding source for the Wastewater division is a "user related" fee.

The Wastewater Revolving Fund was implemented in July 1993 and replaced the General Fund in paying debt service on General Obligation Bonds (GOB). The operation and maintenance of the sanitary sewer system is now entirely funded through the Wastewater Revolving Fund. City Council has endorsed the concept of self-sufficiency and informally agreed to an annual $ .04 increase in the fee. This will permit continued preventive maintenance activities and payment of debt service on our Capital Improvement Program. However on occasion the sewer user fee may be increased due to increased cost of construction materials and replacement parts, expanded maintenance and operational programs in compliance with state and federal government regulations and new initiatives to improve sanitary sewer system efficiencies within the City of Newport News and in co-operation with Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD).

The Wastewater Division utilizes its annual funding in the following five primary areas.

• Personnel Salaries & Benefits
• Operational Equipment/Parts, Supplies & Services
• Vehicle repair and replacements
• Fuel: Electricity, Gas, Diesel, Natural Gas, & Propane
• Capital Improvement Programs (CIP): Upgrading the Sanitary Sewer system citywide.

One of these new initiatives is the Consent Order from the Virginia State Department of Environmental Quality which was enacted upon the City of Newport News in 2007. This Consent Order is region wide throughout all of Hampton Roads and requires the city to reduce and eliminate Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO’s) within the city and improve the health and safety of the residents of Newport News. To do this will require an extensive overhaul of much of the sanitary sewer system coupled with enacting new regulatory over watch programs. Increases in the Sewer User Fee have already taken place and an additional ‘Surcharge Rate’ has also been enacted as a supplemental and temporary funding source increase during the life of the Consent Order in order to meet the Consent Order’s regulatory requirements.