Casino news source: The Morning Call - http://www.mcall.com
Bethlehem flush with casino income
BethWorks sewer fee of $1.7 million smells like progress to Callahan.
By Nicole Radzievich | Of The Morning Call
September 29, 2007
Bethlehem just got its first big payday from the Sands BethWorks casino project: a $1.7 million sewer fee.
The news doesn't surprise the city officials who had budgeted the money this year, but Mayor John Callahan called it a ''milestone'' for his struggling city.
Over the past couple of months, the city learned that the casino won't be completed until 2009, which means the $8.7 million host fee, property taxes and other levies the city will get will be delayed.
''This is the first major fee collected on this project,'' Callahan said. ''We're excited because it clearly shows the progress on that site. One only needs to drive past there to see the amount of work being done.''
The money comes from a tapping fee the city created two years ago. Before that, developers had only to pay a $35 hookup charge. Now, they also must pay $2,527 per ''equivalent dwelling unit,'' which equals 225 gallons a day.
City water and sewer resources director Dave Brong said the median tapping fee has turned out to be roughly $10,000, and in total, the city has probably collected about $500,000 before the casino fee was levied. That makes the casino charge the biggest tapping fee the city has collected to date.
Callahan said he had previously avoided levying the fee so as not to scare away development. Much of the old Bethlehem Steel plant had been left vacant for close to a decade after it stopped production, and the cost of building on such a brownfield was daunting. But when plans like the casino were floated, he began to take a closer look at the fee.
It's attractive to a city that has had four tax increases in five years, a $58.3 million budget and a surplus so low that its bond rating was downgraded. Councilman Joseph Leeson Jr. has said he is worried the city will not have enough money at the end of the year to pay its bills.
In recent years, the city has had to borrow millions of dollars from its treasurer's escrow account -- money earmarked for specific programs -- to make payroll at the end of the year, and has then repaid the money in the first quarter of the following year.
While the sewer fee won't solve the city's current problems, Callahan said it's an indication the city is about to turn the corner. The fee is a sign that development, and the tax money it brings, is on the way.
''What this fee and future fees indicate is that, although we are undergoing some short-term fiscally tight times, our long-term future has never been brighter,'' Callahan said.
The tapping fees are earmarked for sewer projects.
Councilman Robert Donchez said council's job is to ensure that the money is spent in the way the fee was intended. But for the moment, he is relishing the news.
''One point seven million dollars,'' Donchez repeated. ''Wow.'' |
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