Good news for Oxford Township residents suffocating under a mountain of bills ? some relief is on the way.
Last week, township officials voted 6-1 to lower the nonmetered sewer charge from $63 to $33.50 per REU per quarter and decrease the metered sewer charge, which primarily applies to businesses, from $20 to $17.50 per 1,000 cubic feet.
REU stands for Residential Equivalent Unit and it’s a way to equate high volume water and sewer users to single family homes, which are used as the standard.
The single family residence with its value of 1 REU is the basis around which all other facilities? water consumption and sewer usage is estimated. An average single family home in the township uses 200 gallons of water per day or 1 REU.
Officials also voted that all 3,413 sewer customers be charged absolutely nothing for the quarterly billing period spanning April through June of this year.
As a result, sewer users? July bill will be zero, according to Clerk Curtis Wright.
Supervisor Bill Dunn hoped it would ‘take some of the load off of the people that are having trouble right now.?
‘There’s a lot of people out of work,? he said.
None of these rate changes apply to village sewer customers.
Proposed by Trustee Mike Spisz, the lower sewer rates, which would take effect during the July through September quarter will save township residents and businesses approximately $1 million per year. Customers will see the new rates reflected on their October bill.
The onetime, no charge for sewer customers will save them approximately $400,000.
What’s making this possible is the township’s current sewer fund balance, which amounts to $7.5 million.
‘One of the reasons I looked at this is that $7.5 million stands out at you and hits you square in the face,? Spisz said. ‘Why are we as a municipality sitting on $7.5 million? . . . To me, that’s not fair to the taxpayers of the township.?
Even by retaining a recommended fund balance of $1.1 million, withholding $2.9 million for future sewer-related infrastructure projects and setting aside $2 million for potential loans to help pay off the water bond debt, the township would still have excess sewer funds amounting to approximately $1.5 million, according to Spisz? numbers.
Treasurer Joe Ferrari explained the reason the sewer fund balance is so large is because ‘for years the county under-billed us.?
‘For years, they never audited the amount of (sewer) taps we (were) putting in,? he said, noting the township was paying for fewer taps than it actually had.
The under-billing was corrected in the late 1990s with the township paying the county a $500,000 sum, according to Ferrari.
Spisz noted that if no adjustments were made to the rates, the sewer fund could continue to grow by $850,000 annually.
What his proposal does is ‘basically eliminate the growth of that fund? through lower rates and utilize about $400,000 of the existing balance to pay everyone’s sewer bill for an entire quarter.
‘You’re still going to be in excess of $7 million in that fund,? Spisz said.
Wright cast the lone dissenting vote because he wanted more work on the numbers.
‘Mike (Spisz) did a fantastic job of showing us where we’re at,? the clerk said. ‘I’m not disagreeing that (sewer rates) should be lowered. I just think that number needs to be looked at a little bit (more).?
It was noted the new rates will be reviewed on an annual basis.
In addition to lowering the sewer rates, officials also voted to increase the quarterly charge township water customers currently pay to retire the municipality’s $10.7 million bond debt, scheduled for pay off in 2030.
This is the money the township borrowed to build two water treatment plants and construct the 1-million gallon water storage tower across from Oxford High School.
There’s been concern over the township’s ability to make its bond payments given the current economic downturn prevented the municipality from gaining the number of new water customers it expected and needed.
In 2008, the township fell about $276,000 short of being able to make it’s bond payments using money from the quarterly debt service charge each customer pays. The difference had to be made up using money from the water fund. This year the township’s projecting to be short by about $265,000.
To counteract this, officials voted to raise the quarterly debt service charge from $32 to $45 per REU starting January 1, 2010.
Spisz originally proposed raising it to $40, however, most of the board felt that wouldn’t be enough to cover things.