By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
ROBBINSVILLE — The Township Council has introduced an ordinance that would increase sewer bills for single-family homes by $100 a year – a 42 percent increase that, if approved, would take effect Aug. 1.
Homeowners without septic systems currently pay $240 a year for sewer service in two semiannual bills of $120. If the ordinance is adopted, the semiannual bills would increase to $170 for a total of $340 a year.
Township officials pointed out there had not been an increase in sewer charges in 21 years, but this fact failed to assuage some members of the public who reacted with dismay to the news of the fee hike at the council’s June 9 meeting.
”I’m pretty surprised about an over 40 percent increase in (sewer) fees coming on top of a 30 percent increase in taxes last year,” said Sonja Walter of Patriot Drive. “It’s significant – no matter how many years have passed” since the last sewer fee increase, she told the mayor and council.
Some Township Council members also questioned the findings contained in a report by consultant Ron Ghrist, a certified public finance officer who studied the $2 million sewer budget and recommended the fee increase.
”I’m just a little puzzled about this,” Township Councilman Vince Calcagno said. “I know that we’ve been paying the $240 for many years, and we had a surplus. What got us to this point where we’ve got this gap where all of a sudden we went from (charging) $240 to $340 just to make ends meet?”
Mr. Ghrist said the slowdown in the economy was part of the problem, along with a drop in investment income. The town’s over-reliance on the sewer budget’s surplus in recent years to meet higher operating expenses was another major factor, he said.
”During the 1990s, most municipalities in Mercer County were in a period of rapid growth,” Mr. Ghrist said. “You were adding new (housing) units and getting $1,000 some dollars a unit in connections fees and building up quite a surplus. That surplus was what was helping you balance the budget.”
Township CFO Deborah Bauer said the sewer budget had a $1.27 million surplus in 2008 that had dropped to $796,000 by the end of 2010. This year, the 2011 budget anticipates using $650,00 of that surplus, leaving only $146,000 at year’s end. If the sewer bills are increased, the surplus will be $346,000, she said.
Mr. Ghrist said the trend of diminishing sewer surpluses meant that when the economy faltered and new construction stalled, a financial reckoning occurred.
”You’ve lost your investment money, you’ve lost your new connection fee money, and your costs continue to rise,” Mr. Ghrist said.
What’s driving the roughly $400,000 increase in operating expenses since 2008 is that Hamilton is charging Robbinsville more to process sewage, officials said.
”Your fee with Hamilton isn’t based on a user charge,” Mr. Ghrist said. “It’s based on Hamilton’s total cost and your proportion of flow to that. Your proportion of flow is rapidly increasing; your share of their bill is getting higher each year.”
Township Administrator Tim McGough said Friday 80 percent of the sewer operating expense budget goes to pay Hamilton for sewage processing ($1.4 million) and for the Hamilton maintenance staff ($152,000). Robbinsville no longer has its own in-house sewer maintenance staff since entering into a shared services agreement several years ago with Hamilton for day-to-day operations staff, he said.
”These are fixed costs that Robbinsville does not control,” he said.
At the council meeting, two residents questioned both the need for the increase and the timing of the announcement.
”I hope that’s not related to the project up on Route 130 … some kind of miscalculation there,” said Mike Moreken, of Sharon Road.
At another point in the meeting, Ms. Walter also asked if the sewer service’s financial issues were caused in part by bonds for the $2.5 million sewer project on Route 130 to spur development projects there.
Mayor Dave Fried, Mr. Ghrist, and the township CFO, all said the bonds for the Route 130 sewer project were not the source of the financial problem.
”Very little of that is bonds; we used that in our capital budget,” Mayor Fried said. “This is because of not having new connections coming in.”
Ms. Walter also questioned why the report citing the need for higher sewer fees wasn’t delivered to the township until after the May 10 municipal election.
”How long have you been working on that report?” Ms. Walter asked. “I’m wondering why that report didn’t come out closer to when the budget was done. You voted to adopt a $2 million (sewer) budget without knowing the costs.”
After Ms. Walter, a former councilwoman who ran unsuccessfully against Mayor Fried in 2009, said that township officials “need a new dictionary” to look up the meaning of savings in regard to shared services agreements, she and Mayor Fried began to argue.
”You’re making political statements,” Mayor Fried said.
”I’m a member of the public and you work for me and this is public participation,” Ms. Walter shot back.
Township Attorney Mark Roselli’s law partner, Steve Griegel, who was attending the meeting in Mr. Roselli’s absence, told Ms. Walter she was only permitted to give a statement during the public comment part of the council meeting and that she could not engage public officials in “dialog.”
”I was making a statement until I was interrupted,” Ms. Walter replied. “I’m up here trying to express my disdain for a 40 percent rate increase. That was the point I was trying to make.”
”OK, point taken,” Mr. Griegel responded. “You’ve made your point.”
The vote to introduce the ordinance was 4-1. Councilman Dave Boyne voted no, saying he “would have preferred more detail” than the report provided.
The public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Thursday, June 23 in the municipal court trailer.
