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Marana residents could pay as much as 30 percent more for sewer service if the town takes over the sewer system, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry warned in a letter sent last week to town officials.

But town officials say they have ways of offsetting the operating costs of the small plant, and they don't expect rates to increase.

Earlier this month, Huckelberry promised to send the town information about how much it costs to operate both the conveyance system and the wastewater treatment plant so town officials could compare those numbers with their own studies of the cost of the different sewer system options.

At the same time, town officials promised to hold off on trying to annex the wastewater treatment plant near West Marana and North Luckett roads. The town wants the treatment plant for the effluent it produces, to offset groundwater pumping as the town grows.

However, the conveyance system — 182 miles of sewer pipes and seven pumping stations — will become the town's responsibility on Jan. 11, 2008, because the Town Council canceled the intergovernmental agreement under which the county provided sewer service.

Huckelberry put the annual cost of running the conveyance system at $720,000, with almost half that cost related to running the pumping stations. He put the cost of running the treatment plant at $884,000 a year.

Based on those numbers, Huckelberry laid out an argument for Marana to remain in the countywide sewer system and look for other ways to make up for groundwater pumping.

Marana currently relies on the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District to meet its 100-year assured water supply requirements. The district is charged with finding renewable water sources for recharge, and property owners who are members of the CAGRD pay for water through their property tax bills.

In his letter, Huckelberry compared the average $22.29 annual residents' tax bill for CAGRD members to the $3,946 per acre-foot cost of treating effluent at the Marana plant.

That cost is eight times the systemwide average because the plant is so small.

"It would certainly appear that continued reliance on CAGRD membership is a viable option for serving the future water needs of Marana given the documented small costs," Huckelberry wrote.

However, the CAGRD has not actually bought most of the water it eventually will need. Costs are expected to rise, and there is no cap on how much the district can charge members like Marana.

Marana town officials have said they think the best way to control the town's future growth is to control its own water supply. But Marana's public works director said the county numbers may not reflect the town's costs for running the same system.

"We have access to offsets," said Public Works Director Barbara Johnson. "We have access to cheaper electricity. We have smaller overhead."

Johnson said preliminary calculations show sewer rates would not increase much, if at all. "We don't expect our rates to increase," she said.

Officials are waiting for a study commissioned by the town to verify, in the fall, what rates will be.

Town Attorney Frank Cassidy said he hopes the costs laid out in the letter don't represent the amount the county intends to charge Marana for processing its sewage while the plant remains in county control.

After exchanging information, county and town officials expect to meet again next month.