Water, sewer rates to go up in Fairfield

Despite councilman John Revolinski?s urging that the rate of increase be tiered based on usage, ordinances increasing water and sewer rates 20 percent went through as proposed Monday night.

The Fairfield City Council has approved the first reading of an ordinance that will increase the base fee for sewer usage from $12 to $14.50 per month and the user rate from 4 cents to 4.8 cents per cubic foot of wastewater per month.

The council also approved the first reading of an ordinance that will increase the five tiers of water usage 20 percent ? from 3.241 cents to 3.9 cents per cubic foot for those using less than 1,500 cubic feet per month up to an increase from 1.1463 cents to 1.8 cents per cubic foot for those using more than 401,100 cubic feet per month. The fee for a meter was not adjusted, and most households will continue to pay $7.50 for a half-inch to 5/8-inch line.

?This rate increase is not just to gather more money because the municipality needs to stay afloat, it is to do some of the repairs that we desperately need,? councilman Daryn Hamilton said referring to the sewer rates. ?We?re under an administrative order from the attorney general?s office to make sure that we have enough funds on hand to do repairs to the system.?

The estimated cost to completely repair the city?s sanitary sewer system is at least $30 million across the next 10 years.

Revolinski agreed the city desperately needs the additional funds to fix Fairfield?s sewer problems; however, he?s concerned about how the increase will affect the city?s low-income residents.

?I?ve heard from several people what a burden the increase that we already put into place in the last year is on very low-income households,? Revolinski said. He proposed maintaining the rate for low-volume users and making up the difference with a greater rate increase for high-volume users.

?This is not something the committee took lightly,? said councilwoman Susan Silvers, who sits on the water and sewer utilities committee with Hamilton and councilman Ray Mottet. She pointed out low-income households are not the only households on fixed budgets in today?s economic climate.

Mayor Ed Malloy said introducing a tiered system to the sewer rates would require a major accounting study. Councilman Myron Gookin said a 20 percent increase for everyone seemed the most fair and equitable.

To put Fairfield?s fees in perspective, engineer Jerry Long of French-Reneker Associates Inc. said the base fee in Mount Union, where a new sewer system is being installed, is $40 per month.

?For the grants that we?re applying for ? the [State Revolving Fund] loans, hopefully we?ll be applying for [City Development Community Block Grants] ? they look at where these rates are, and ours are so far below anybody in our area that we?re not going to be eligible for any of these grants,? Long added.

The council unanimously approved the first reading of the ordinance regarding sewer rates, and the water and sewer utilities committee agreed to look into studying the feasibility of a tiered rate system before the ordinance?s second reading late next month.

For the complete article, see the Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010, printed edition of The Fairfield Ledger.