HOWELL — There is an anticipated deficit of $466,000 in the township’s 2009 sewer budget and customers of the utility will have to dig deeper to make up the shortfall.
Howell officials said all of the sewer utility’s customers will experience an increase of $80 a year in their sewer rate. The new rate reflects that residential sewer customers will be paying $172 per quarter for sewer service, a jump from their previous quarterly rate of $152.
On Jan. 20 the Township Council introduced an ordinance to adjust the sewer rates. The ordinance has been scheduled for a public hearing and possible vote for adoption at the council’s meeting on Feb. 3.
According to the ordinance, “There shall be a minimum sewer rental charge of $688 per year per residential dwelling with kitchen facilities. Each user shall be required to install, in accordance with the regulations of the water utility, a water meter to record the volume of flow of water consumption by said user.
“Said meter shall be installed at a place which shall provide easy access for reading the meter by the sewer utility. In the event that the user fails to install said meter, or refuses to allow the sewer utility to read the meter, then the sewer utility shall estimate the volume of water consumed by each user,” according to the ordinance.
Mayor Robert Walsh said the situation occurred “because of a decrease in revenue from less hookups, a decrease in interest income, and the fact that construction has died.”
Walsh said that on many occasions he has questioned whether the sewer utility was paying for itself.
“A prior administration gave a $750,000 surplus back to all the residents in October 2004. I questioned it many times on the solvency, and if the sewer utility was paying for itself,” the mayor said.
The planned increase in the sewer rate is “unacceptable to me. It has come at a time when taxpayers can’t afford it,” Walsh said.
He said he has asked for an audit of Howell’s sewer utility, as well as the township’s affordable housing trust fund and its shade tree fund going back four years.
“I want to make sure the decisions made are based on accurate numbers,” the mayor said.