Water service disconnection fees increased
During the April 24 Thurmont Board meeting, Commissioners conditionally approved an increase in the water service disconnection fees, but asked staff to identify the cost to reconnect services that had been disconnected due to delinquent payments. The Board of Commissioners placed a cap on the fee increase not to exceed $75. In December, town staff returned with a report
on the actual cost to present to the Board.
Town staff determined that the actual cost to reconnect the water service was just over $73. This cost includes the labor for reconnecting the lines as well as the procedure for re-notification to the resident. The current reconnection fee in Thurmont is $6 but will be increased to $75 per occurrence. Back in the spring, the Board discussed the idea of creating a tiered
reconnection fee based upon number of delinquent payments, but opted not to pursue this plan. Most of the neighboring municipalities’ reconnection fees are either equal to or higher than Thurmont’s new fee.
Thurmont will be sending out notification in the January bills to inform residents that the increase will go into effect in April.
Colorfest 2018 proves best year yet
Colorfest 2018 proved to be the most successful one yet, and seems to be growing each year. This year, town staff was proud to announce that Colorfest, held this past fall, incurred a six percent increase in revenues over last year.
Overall, more permits were sold this year than any of the prior years. Craft permits, food permits, parking permits and yard sale permits increased in number substantially this year. There was a three percent increase in expenditures over last year, which can be attributed to the town’s rental of a few extra buses and toilets as well as the increase in staffing of more
sanitary personnel. However, even with the extra additions, the revenues still exceeded the expenditures by 43 percent this year at a total of $7,289.
Thurmont’s Board of Commissioners was overall pleased that they may have found an appropriate balance for Colorfest. The ultimate goal is to recapture the costs, and they well exceeded that this year.
