By Stephanie Prokop, Staff Writer
MANSFIELD — Some owners of single-family houses in the township would see a 178 percent increase in their sewer bills if the state approves Applied Wastewater’s request for a rate hike.
“This is unconscionable and crazy,” said Myra Dickert, a resident of the Four Seasons at Mapleton.
Applied Wastewater Management, Inc. provides service to approximately 4,266 wastewater customers, including the Homestead community of Mansfield, the Four Seasons at Mapleton, and the Country Walk housing development.
The proposed sewer rate increases must first be approved by the state Board of Public Utilities, which also has the power to lower the increases. There is not currently a date set for a decision.
The company is requesting an overall increase in revenues of $2,950,133, which boils down to an approximate 66 percent increase.
Applied Wastewater said in a letter informing Mansfield of a public hearing in the Homestead community Monday that the actual percentage increase applicable to the specific customer classes will vary according to usage.
For the average detached single family house in the Homestead community, the increase could hike the water bills from $164.27 to $456.69, which would be a 178 percent increase.
According to Steve Curtis, the company’s vice president, the reason for the proposed increase is to pay for several equipment infrastructure upgrades that are needed.
Applied Wastewater has proposed that the changes in the sewerage rates will be contingent on the size of customers’ houses, and some townhouses will see a rate decrease of 8 percent, while other townhouses may see an increase as much as 83 percent.
An assistant in the Homestead at Mansfield Homeowners Association Office said simply that “the rate increase would affect the entire community.”
Ms. Dickert, who is past president of the Four Seasons’ Civic Association, said Tuesday that she and several other members of the community are fed up with the price increases.
“We have done just about everything and anything we can do to fight this increase,” she stated.
Among the issues, she said, is the rate for a single family house with five residents in County Walk and for a two-person age-restricted house in Homestead or Four Seasons.
“So we’re paying the same rates as those homes who have five or six occupants and use much more of the utility,” she said.
Ms. Dickert said the sewer bills are a deterrent from the houses’ overall value, and that prospective homeowners are astonished to learn that residents of Four Seasons currently pay about $248 per quarter for their sewer utilities.
