Sunday, March 16, 2014 10:50 PM EDT

By KASSONDRA GRANATA STAFF WRITER

SOUTHINGTON To clear up confusion within the town, Town Manager Garry Brumback and Town Engineer Keith Hayden have released updated information on the towns recent sewer rate changes.

The intent of this whole process is to fix a broken billing system, Brumback said about the sewer rate changes. Nobody wants to raise anyones bills, we are trying to be as fair as possible.

Hayden said the system relies on water used during the winter months to calculate bills that estimate customers full-year sewer use.

This approach resulted in unfair, biased billing that was consistently unable to keep pace with the costs of the sewer system and triggered frequent, dramatic rate increases every couple of years, Hayden said in the release.

According to Hayden, the new rate structure will provide an equitable solution to satisfy the revenue requirements and more evenly distribute associated costs among ratepayers, based on actual use, rather than unfairly burdening a select few. The rate change will capture an additional 16 percent of the required revenue, which is currently not being collected.

Residents who use private wells and private septic systems and currently pay no sewer bill will see no change, Hayden said. The annual bills for 2013-2014 that residents will receive in April, May and June of this year will be based on the old system.

Beginning the new fiscal year, residents on public water and sewer will receive quarterly bills with two parts a fixed rate and a variable rate. The fixed rate will be assessed based on three separate categories: residential, commercial or industrial. The variable rate will be assessed on actual water usage.

Hayden said that in order to close the current funding shortage, the average rate will increase by 10 percent. For residential, the annual fixed rate is $180 per household billed at $45 per quarter. The variable rate was reduced from $4.33 to $3 per 100 cubic feet. The commercial annual fixed rate is $250 per establishment and will be billed at $62.50 per quarter. The variable rate was reduced from $4.33 to $4.20 per 100 cubic feet. For industrial, the annual fixed rate is $250 per establishment, with $62.50 billed per quarter. The variable rate was reduced from $4.33 to $3.30 per 100 cubic feet.

Read more from the original source:
Southington clarifies sewer rate changes

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