On April 15, 2014, after a public hearing, the Board of the Washington Township Regional Sewage District enacted a five percent (5%) increase in sewer rates, which is reflected on the bill you have received this month.  As before, your sewer bill is based on water usage.  Here are some important facts you should know about the change:

·         The new rates are $9.50 per 1000 gallons of water used.

·         The average user (based on 3,500 gallons usage) will only see an increase of about $1.60 per month.

·         Rates remain low compared to rates in other local sewer districts.

·         The initial sewer rates in 1986 were $6.23 per 1000 gallons.  If sewer rates had been adjusted for inflation as calculated by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) every year since 1986 the rate would be $13.43 per 1000 gallons.  Taking inflation into account, the newly enacted sewer rates are nearly 30% lower than they were in 1986.

The Board considered several factors weighing in favor of an increase.  The Sewer District faces increased costs of operation, the possibility of growth in the community, and the need to save money for capital improvements.  The Board has taken note that some other sewer districts faced with unexpected expenses, repairs, or capital improvements failed to gradually increase rates and were required to implement shocking, drastic rate increases, or were forced to go into debt to pay for unexpected costs and capital improvements.  One of our neighboring sewer districts recently doubled rates in one year.  The Board would prefer to implement gradual increases over time to allow time for adjustment rather than create a problem for the next generation to deal with.

The costs faced by the District are real and not entirely within the Board’s control.  For example, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (“IDEM”) recently and unexpectedly mandated that the District have a source of backup power.  This was a new unfunded mandate that was never previously required by IDEM.  In order to comply with IDEM’s unfunded mandate, the District was forced to purchase a generator that cost approximately $30,000.  IDEM also raised the fee for the District’s permit from $700 to $2,400 per year.

At the hearing, the Board also considered and discussed at length the factors weighing against an increase in rates, including a Petition submitted by concerned members of the community.  Ultimately, the Board unanimously determined that the current rates were too low to meet the financial requirements of the Sewer District and approved the 5% increase in rates.