Politics & Government
Mount Pleasant Sewer Rates Went Up and So Did Residents' Ire
With only about $1 million left in the fund, village officials say it's vital to help pay for increased costs and to build up the account, but residents don't think they were given enough explanation.
The Mount Pleasant Village Board meeting earlier this week was filled with residents who showed up to express their anger about their increased sewer rate.
For several years, village property owners have paid $95 a quarter, but the village recently raised that amount to $115. Landlords with multi-unit resident buildings are charged percentages of the quarterly rate determined by the number of bedrooms in a unit. Residents said they felt blindsided.
"What does the money go for?" asked Catherine Czarnecki. "I live on Slater Avenue and have been paying an assessment for 10 years for system upgrades that don't affect my side of the street."
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Robert Underhill is a landlord who owns a building with apartments. He said he'll pay his fair share, but he wants to stress that what he pays is really fair.
"I feel like I'm paying three times too much, and it's impacting my ability to stay competitive in the rental market," he said. Underhill's building has one meter, but he wants each of his units metered individually like a single-family home.
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Right now, a one-bedroom apartment or condominium is billed 75 percent of the $115; a two-bedroom is billed at 80 percent of the $115; and a three-bedroom is billed at 90 percent of the $115. A bill is then generated for the entire building.
Robert Pucely, sewer utility manager, said the great difference in rates from 2010 to 2011 is because costs to the village from the City of Racine have risen and instead of raising sewer rates each year, residents have not had an increase since 2009. The village has been paying sewer utility bills out of the reserve fund, which now needs replenishing.
"Our treatment costs from the city are up $700,000," he said. "That means the village is using more of the sewer service from the city and we have to find a way to pay for that."
In the last couple of years, the village has used $500,000 to $800,000 per year of the reserve fund to cover increased operating costs. The village has not raised rates to balance the larger expenditure, bringing the reserve fund balance to just about $1 million, a threshold considered dangerously low.
"If we have a catastrophic failure, it will cost more than a million," Pucely added. "And then the village will be forced to borrow money to make that repair."
Part of the reason treatment costs have risen so dramatically is that approximately 1,700 private laterals are failing and bringing stormwater runoff and ground water into the sewer system. That clear water gets transported to the treatment facility with everything else in the pipe to the treatment facility in Racine.
Laterals are the pipes that lead from a residence out to the main, which, when filled with clear water in addition to what's normally in a sewer line, means a greater capacity needing treatment. Many pipes installed prior to the mid-1970s are made from clay and have tree and plant roots pushing through them, causing the water infiltration. Other laterals, some of them cement, have joints that are failing, which also allow roots and water.
The City of Racine charges the Village of Mount Pleasant for the capacity the village needs so the greater the capacity, the higher the charge.
"Standard operating costs are typically paid for with residential sewer fees," Pucely said. "While the reserve fund is what should be used for large projects like this lateral issue."
Village officials are currently exploring the options for repairing or replacing laterals in the oldest neighborhoods in the village on municipal water and sewer.Β Part of the solution could include making lateral repair or replacement a village project and spreading the cost to homeowners over a five- or ten-year period.
But Czarnecki pointed out that the recession continues and whether or not this is a good time to tackle such a large and expensive project.
"Why not wait a year and see where we are at that time?" she asked. "People are losing their homes and you're talking about putting a greater burden on them."
But Village Trustee Karen Albeck addressed this concern, saying she had roots infiltrate the lateral in her home shortly after she moved in. The first time, her insurance covered the damage, but when it happened again, she was stuck with a hefty repair bill.
"We know it's never a good time to introduce a project like this," she said. "But taking these steps of prevention will save homeowners a lot of money in the long run."
Pucely said that new technology means a machine is sent down into the line to clean out roots and dirt and then a plastic-like material is used to coat the inside of the pipe. After the material cures, it will almost be as if a new, PVC pipe had been installed.
"We've already used this technology in sewer mains that are double or triple the size of a residential four-inch pipe," he said. "There is a substantial cost savings."
Lining a lateral pipes brings the cost of repair to about $5,000 or $6,000, which is significantly less than having to dig up a pipe and completely replace it at $100 per foot or more. Further, Pucely said prices continue to come down so the lining repair could even be less than his estimates.
Engineering firm Crispell-Snyder is putting together a proposal for village officials with several options for addressing the lateral issue.
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