http://www.mlive.com/news/saginawnews/index.ssf?/base/news-24/118831082174740.xml&coll=9
BV Township approves
water, sewer rate boosts
Tuesday, August 28,
2007
LaNIA COLEMAN
THE
SAGINAW NEWS
Buena Vista
Township residents will pay more for water and sewer
service after members of the Township Board of
Trustees approved rate increases Monday.
The water rate hike
will compensate for a cost increase the township's
water supplier, the city of Saginaw, imposed last
year, plus a proposed boost.
Increases in
wastewater charges will pay for state-mandated
repairs to the sewer system.
The township serves
more than 3,000 water customers and about 2,500
wastewater customers, who use an average of 351
million gallons of water per year.
The township's
wastewater system serves about 2,520 customers
between Interstate 75 and the eastern township
border. The city of Saginaw serves customers west of
I-75.
Under the new rate
plan, residents will pay $4.23 per 1,000 gallons of
water, up from $3.30 per 1,000 gallons. A $2.50
monthly service charge remains the same.
Residents also will
pay $3.72 per 1,000 gallons of wastewater, up from
$2.43 per 1,000 gallons. However, the debt surcharge
will decrease to $11.03 from $12.20. The $2.21
administrative fee will remain the same.
The net amount of the
increase per household hinges on family size, but
financial experts expect the average single-person
to pay about $3.50 per month more for water and
sewer, said Township Manager Martin V. Williams. The
average four-person household likely will pay about
$10 more per month.
Township officials
anticipate issuing a sewer bond in 2008 to pay for
system upgrades the state Department of
Environmental Quality has ordered to eliminate
overflows of untreated wastewater into the Saginaw
River.
In December, the state
set an August 2009 deadline for the township to fix
system failures that have caused the sewer system to
dump up to 12 million gallons of wastewater per day
into the river during wet weather.
The township likely
will borrow funds from the state revolving fund to
pay for the estimated $15.3 million rehabilitation
project, which should end in 2012. v
