Developers and homebuilders looking to hook up to Oxford Township’s sewer system will be expected to pay more next year in an effort to help fund installation of a new sanitary line along M-24.

Last week, the township board voted 6-0 to raise the sewer connection fee to $5,000 per Residential Equivalent Unit (REU) effective Jan. 1, 2020.

The current fee is $3,500 per REU.

An REU is a way to proportionally equate the water and sanitary sewer usage of non-residential facilities to that of a typical single-family home. One home’s water usage equates to 1 REU whereas a business that uses the equivalent of five homes, for example, would be assigned 5 REUs.

Trustee Jack Curtis, who chairs the township’s water and sewer committee, said the increase is designed to help pay for the addition of a 7,400-foot sanitary sewer line that will run along M-24 from Gateway Dr. to Oakdell Rd. It will be installed during the M-24 reconstruction next year.

Handling the wave of development that’s expected to hit M-24 in the coming years is the new line’s main purpose. That includes Beaumont’s desire to construct a $140 million, 225,000-square-foot hospital on the east side of M-24, just north of the village, and the potential for commercial development on the 53.25 acres at the northeast corner of M-24 and Ray Rd.

Using a rough estimate of $100 per foot for a line that’s 18 inches in diameter, township engineer Jim Sharpe previously informed officials, the sewer project could cost approximately $740,000.

Curtis said the idea behind the connection fee increase is to pay for the new line without depleting the sewer fund’s reserves.

“We’ve got to keep our fund balance pretty healthy,” he said.

Even at $5,000 per REU, Curtis said Oxford Township still has probably one of the lowest connection fees in the state.

It was noted that Lyon Township, for example, charges $10,229 per REU to connect to its sewer system.

“We’re down there,” Curtis said. “We’re still less expensive.”

The last time Oxford raised its sewer connection fee was in January 2014, when it went from $2,500 to $3,500 per REU.

As part of the approved motion, the township is giving developers and homebuilders the option to “prepay” their sewer connection fees this year at the $3,500 per REU rate.