It was a foregone conclusion.

On Thursday, the Altoona Water Authority agreed to deed the water and waste-water systems it operates to the city and pay rent so it can continue to operate those systems — and so the city will continue to earn a steady income from the assets.

The authority’s approval of the deal was a foregone conclusion not only because the two sides had negotiated the arrangement over the past 2 1/2 years, but because with City Council’s appointment last week of a third authority member, it now has a majority on the board.

In keeping with one of the favored options in a recent consultant’s study, the authority will pay $4.1 million to the city this year — the same amount the authority budgeted last month, and in line with substantial annual payments it has made to the city since 2004, when City Council threatened to privatize the systems. The annual payment will rise 2 percent through 2019, then increase to $5.9 million.

It would then rise to $6.9 million during the four years following, according to the city.

After eight years, either party can petition to renegotiate, according to authority Chairman Bill Schirf and solicitor Alan Krier.

If neither asks to renegotiate, the payment will rise 2 percent per year for the rest of the 20-year deal, Krier said.

If one asks to renegotiate and the sides can’t arrive at a new deal, that annual increase rises to 3 percent, Krier said.

Schirf pushed for a 20-year deal to mesh with the long-term outlook the authority must take in dealing with needed improvements to the system, he said.

Pennvest must approve the deal, as the lender of money the authority must repay.

The agency will surely approve, said Mark Glenn of authority consulting engineer Gwin Dobson & Foreman.

As part of the deal, the city has agreed to guarantee the authority debt, which is about $86 million, according to information provided at a recent City Council meeting.

That guarantee is a backstop to the authority’s continuing ability to set rates to cover its obligations.

The authority’s asset giveback will not include vehicles or tools, because frequent turnover in those items would cause documentation inconvenience to both sides, according to Krier.

The giveback will also not include intermunicipal arrangements by which the authority supplies water to outlying areas — including Hollidaysburg, Bellwood and Blair Township — through partnerships with those municipalities in water plants, Krier said.

Nor will the giveback include deals by which the authority supplies bulk water to some outlying customers, including those in East Freedom.

The transaction that the authority approved Thursday is the opposite of what happened in 1955, when the city turned over the systems to the authority, then leased them back as operator, according to Krier.

That early arrangement lasted until the 1980s.

In 1981, the city conferred responsibility for water operations to the authority.

In 1986, it conferred responsibility for sewer operations to the authority.

It made those arrangements in hopes of correcting “a huge amount of deferred maintenance,” Krier said.

City Council has introduced ordinances to enforce its deal with the authority and can approve them next month.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.