Sewer rate increase planned

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Typical residential bill expected to increase $5 a quarter

The City Council on Feb. 18 tentatively adopted a rate increase for customers of the Hudson sewer utility.

The utility serves residences, businesses and institutional customers in the city and the village of North Hudson.

The council approved the first reading of an ordinance that would increase the charge per 100 cubic feet of wastewater put into the system by 16 cents.

In addition, customers will pay a minimum sewer service charge of $12 per quarter and an annual meter service charge of $21 to $40. The amount of the meter charge will depend upon the size of the meter.

The impact to the typical residential customer would be an increase of about $5 on their quarterly water and sewer bill, city officials said.

Sewer rates were last increased in 2003.

The usage rate will increase to $2.40 per 100 cubic feet, beginning with the first-quarter meter reading for 2009, if the council gives final approval to the ordinance at its March 2 meeting. The current rate is $2.24 per 100 cubic feet of wastewater discharged to the system.

Wastewater Director Jim Schreiber said one of the reasons the utility has been running at a deficit recently is that more households have installed second water meters to measure the water they use for lawn sprinkling.

Since sewer bills are based on water usage, taking the water used on lawns out of the mix has reduced the sewer utility’s income, he said.

The annual meter service charge was incorporated to make up for that lost revenue.

Tags: sewer, rates, hudson