CCU opposes bill removing System Development Charge

by Mindy Aguon

Guam - Governor Eddie Calvo and the Affordable Housing Council may be in support of a bill that seeks to remove the System Development Charge, but the Guam Waterworks Authority and the Consolidated Commission on Utilities is not.  The charge was imposed more than a decade ago by GWA as a means to charge new customers for the expansion of water and wastewater systems and not place that burden on existing customers. 

CCU chairperson Simon Sanchez says the charge has generated more than $3,000,000 that will go directly into building new wells to expand the capacity needed for new development.  He's hoping elected leaders reconsider removing the SDC, telling KUAM News, "That's what I would ask the governor and Senator [Tina Rose Muna] Barnes to think about. If low income customers don't contribute to the system then everyone else has to. And it's not like everyone else has $5 million lying around to give to GWA so new customers can have water and waste water services."

Sanchez says it costs $5 million for every 1,000 new customers to the system and he doesn't believe it's fair to force existing customers to pay for it.  The Affordable Housing Council has said the SDC is a major impediment for those wanting to build homes on Guam.