LAUREL, Md. (AP) — Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission officials say they are proposing a 7.5 percent fee increase to water and sewer fees.

The agency serves about 1.8 million residents in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. The Washington Post reports that commission Chairman Roscoe M. Moore Jr. said in a letter to both county governments that the agency needs 22.3 percent increase to its capital and operating budgets.

If the WSSC’s budget is approved by both counties, residents would see about a 35 percent increase in fees from fiscal year 2009.

Moore says 10 percent of the revenue from the rate increase would go toward a cost-of-living raise and merit increases for all WSSC employees.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)