By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY — The Township Committee will hold a special meeting tonight, Tuesday, to discuss the new usage-based sewer fee billing system.
The meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Senior Center portion of the Otto Kaufmann Community Center on Skillman Road.
Committee members will take questions from the public on the new system, which bills users based on the amount of water used rather than a flat fee, as in the past.
Sewer users were notified of the changeover, which has planned for over a year, through newsletters, e-mails and letters, Deputy Mayor Cecilia Birge said.
But when users received a sample bill recently that showed an estimate of their new costs based on their water usage in 2007, the township received a lot more phone calls and questions about the changeover, she said.
The meeting was scheduled in response to those questions, and to address flaws that have been identified in the ordinance, she said.
”It’s an opportunity for us to present what we have discovered back to our residents, and hear their suggestions,” she said.
The flat fee has remained at $600 for the past 15 years, she said, but was expected to rise to $849 this year based on increased costs. In the past, rising costs had been absorbed by developers’ fees, which are on the decline, she said.
”As that account is drained over the years, and the cost of the environmental requirement for these sewer plants are so extraordinarily high, therefore the cost has skyrocketed,” she said.
Under the new system, 70 percent of users would pay less than $849, she said. Big families, such as her own, are seeing sharper increases, she said.
”We think that ultimately this is really pushing people to be more environmentally conscious, and it does make it fairer,” she said.
Based on the result of Tuesday’s meeting, new sewer bills reflecting the changeover will be sent out in a couple weeks, Ms. Birge said.
The future of the sewer system is a pressing issue, she added. Having passed on the opportunity years ago to participate in the regional sewer authority, the town currently operates eight sewer plants, she said.
Many residents have suggested the township privatize the service, she said.
”The bottom line is if we privatize it, we’ll really lose control of the rates,” she said.

