New Fees and Rates Coming for City Services Bill

The fees collected from the monthly bill’s charges help fund operating costs associated with providing a safe and reliable water supply, sanitary sewer services, solid waste collections and stormwater drainage facilities for Virginia Beach residents. 

They also help fund the maintenance, repairs, rehabilitation and replacement of water, sewer and stormwater systems throughout the City, helping to extend the life of the infrastructure and reduce the potential for costly and inconvenient system breaks in the future.  

The upcoming rate changes are outlined below, along with an explanation of how the funds are used. 

Fee/Rate: Prior to July 1 | New as of July 1

• Water Service Availability Fee (monthly): $5 | $5.53
• Water Usage Rate (per thousand gallons): $5.20 | $5.74
• Sanitary Sewer Fee (monthly): $31.58 | $32.37
• Solid Waste Collection (monthly): $27.50 | $30.55
• Stormwater (daily): $0.493 | No Increase

Water Service Availability Fee  

The new water service availability fee will be $5.53 per month, an increase of 53 cents. The service availability fee is based on water meter size and helps offset the costs associated with maintaining and reading the meter. 

Water Usage Rate

The new water usage rate will be $5.74 per 1,000 gallons, an increase of 54 cents. Water usage charges are determined based on a meter reading taken the day the account is billed.  

The revenue collected allows Public Utilities to provide a reliable water supply in full compliance with all federal and state drinking water standards and ensures sufficient fire protection capabilities across the city. 

Sanitary Sewer Fee

The new sanitary sewer fee will be $32.37 per month, an increase of 79 cents. The sanitary sewer fee supports the maintenance, rehabilitation and replacement of aging pipes and pump stations that facilitate the transportation of wastewater to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) for treatment.  

The sanitary sewer fee is billed as a fixed daily rate. HRSD bills separately for wastewater treatment. HRSD’s wastewater treatment fees are based on water consumption. 

Solid Waste Collection Fee

The new solid waste collection fee will be $30.55 per month, an increase of $3.05.  The solid waste collection fee covers the cost of residential waste collection services, which includes weekly trash collection, weekly yard debris collection, bi-weekly recycling collection, bulk item collection (upon request), yard debris containers (rental fees also apply to help offset costs associated with this service), unlimited use of the Landfill and Resource Recovery Center, unlimited use of two recycling drop-off centers, and up to 12 visits per year to the SPSA Landstown Transfer Station.  

In addition to direct operational costs, the fee also helps cover costs associated with disposal, equipment replacement, billing and administrative services. 

Stormwater Fee

The stormwater fee will not increase. Revenues from this fee are used to support stormwater infrastructure throughout the city and to rehabilitate aging or inadequate drainage systems.  

The fee also helps to cover the cost of design, construction and maintenance of new systems that improve drainage and reduce and monitor pollutants that may otherwise enter various bodies of water. 

For details on the new rates, visit VirginiaBeach.gov/budget.