SOUTHINGTON —SEWER RATES WILL LIKELY INCREASE TO CLOSE A WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT BUDGET SHORTFALL: Published: January 29, 2014 | Last Modified: January 31, 2014 01:32PM By Jesse Buchanan Record-Journal staff The Town Council’s sewer committee discussed plans to close the budget gap Wednesday, including sending out two bills this year or adding a charge to annual bills for the next five years. The wastewater treatment plant costs $5.5 million a year to operate, according to Town Manager Garry Brumback, and was about $250,000 short last year. “Our sewer assessment isn’t even enough to pay our yearly overhead,” said Town Council Vice Chairwoman Cheryl Lounsbury, head of the sewer committee. “What we’ve found is that we’re not assessing enough.” Lounsbury and Town Councilor Chris Palmieri were concerned about the burden that additional charges could place on ratepayers. “I don’t think this is fair to put this fully on the backs of the rate payers,” Palmieri said. The committee also discussed the possibility of using town reserves to help close the budget gap. Changes to the billing suggested by Town Engineer Keith Hayden included levying a fixed fee for all sewer users of $130. That would constitute about a third of the average bill, he said. The other two-thirds would be based on water usage, with a rate of $3.15 per hundred cubic feet. The goal is to meet operating expenses at the plant, so if revenues exceed expenses the rate could go down. Hayden acknowledged that the increases were costly to residents. “We need to be at a break-even,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s painful.” Despite the difficulties, Lounsbury said she was willing to “take the heat” for sewer bill increases and stressed the need to deal with the problem. “I don’t think you can let it go another year. You’ve got to face it now,” she said. The matter issue will also be discussed at the next council meeting. jbuchanan@record-journal (203)317-2230 Twitter: @JBuchananRJ
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 12:19:51 +0000