(7/24) Carroll Valley residents are concerned about high sewer rates, so the borough government is looking at every option for relief.
Borough Manager Dave Hazlett told the council that two options, installing effluent or well meters in each home, are not cost-effective.
Effluent meters allow billing based on actual usage rather than a flat rate. Hazlett said the equipment to read effluent meters would cost about $1.3 million plus installation costs. Each of the sewer system’s 467 customers would need to pay about $2,783 for the system, he said.
Well meters, which measure how much water a well sends to each house, would cost $652.70 per house, Hazlett said. The equipment to read the meters would also cost the borough approximately $25,000.
"It's important to note that with either type of meter, the borough would incur perpetually cyclical hardware and software costs and likely increased personnel costs (a new meter reader hire), which I am unable to quantify at this stage," Hazlett said in a memo to council.
Hazlett said some citizens have proposed the borough charge sewer rates based on the number of people living in the house. That approach will not work, he said, because he has no way to verify the number of people living in each residence.
Last year, the borough raised sewer rates by 37 percent to fund a new $5.315 million sewage treatment plant. Hazlett hopes the 1.743 percent, 20-year loan will be paid off early so the borough can reduce sewer bills. In 2022, the borough paid off a loan issued for its municipal building 20 years early. At the time, the Borough credited "sound budgeting and careful spending" for the accomplishment.
"I have no doubt that we will be able to do that with the sewer project," he said.
Hazlett said borough staff are focused on helping sewer customers who pay their bills. Those who ignore them are about to face some harsh realities.
Hazlett told the council he instructed Borough Solicitor Zachary Rice to begin enforcing liens on properties placed for non-payment. Some customers, Hazlett said, owe up to seven years' worth of sewer bills. In the past, the borough tried to work out payment plans for customers who faced hardships, but those plans were seldom effective. Now, the borough is making customers’ options clear.
"They pay their bill, or it (the property) goes to Sheriff’s sale," he said.
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