Date: Fri 08-Sep-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

sewer-council-assessment

Full Text:

Council Disturbed By More Than $1 Million In Added Sewer Costs

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

Legislative Council learned Wednesday night that the $500,000 it had set aside

to pay for hooking town-owned buildings into the new sewer system will fall

far short of the more than $1.76 million that actually will be needed.

"This is the first time that I have ever heard that we will have to pay a

benefit assessment for town-owned buildings as well as a hook-up fee,"

complained Council Vice Chairman Melissa Pilchard, who is also a member of the

council's finance committee.

"I'm a little disturbed that the cost went from $500,000 to $1.7 million -

could we sue the WPCA (Water Pollution Control Authority)?" asked Council

President Joseph Mahoney.

WPCA Chairman Peter Alagna came to the council meeting with Peter Grose of

Fuss and O'Neill, Inc., the town's sewer consultant, and John Valente of

Lesher Glendinning Municipal Services to present the planned sewer assessment

formulas which will be used to underwrite part of the cost of $30.4 million

sewer project which was mandated by the State Department of Environmental

Protection.

The presentation was met by a chorus of "great disappointment" expressed by

the council members who wanted to have been consulted for their opinions

before the WPCA took its action last week. An independent agency created by

town ordinance 17 years ago, the WPCA does not need the council's approval to

set the formulas and rates that it will charge for properties inside the sewer

district and the general taxation required from the town at large. But it

hoped to get the council's tacit approval.

Since the state's property at Fairfield Hills also is using the sewer system,

Mr Alagna said the town's share of the $30.4 million is $18.5 million. The

other $11.5 million, or 38 percent, will be paid through state grants.

Forty one percent of the town's share, or $12.2 million, will come from

assessments against the residential, commercial/industrial and church

properties within the sewer district. The remaining $6.3 million, or 21 per

cent, will be paid through general townwide taxation and by the assessments

against town property inside the sewer district.

Mr Alagna explained that the assessment against town properties such as

schools, the town halls and the Meeting House, is the amount needed to pay for

the town's share of the capital costs of the sewer - the cost of putting in

the sewer mains, the pumping stations, and the sewer plant.

"This is also the town's contribution for the future capacity of the plant,"

he said.

There are 814 properties inside the sewer district, according to Mr Grose. Of

these, 567 are residences and 112 are commercial/industrial.

Mr Valenta, the town's real estate appraisal consultant for the sewering

project, said his firm appraised every commercial/industrial property plus a

sampling of 16 typical homes in the sewer district to determine what they

would be worth before and after sewering. The difference is the "benefit"

which will be used to determine the assessment. The formula is not based on

water usage, front lot footage or other factors, he said.

Mr Alagna said the assessment for residences with four or fewer bedrooms has

been set at $9,600, which is 90 percent of the average appraised residential

sewer benefit for these homes. For each bedroom over four, an additional .25

percent assessment may be charged.

For non-residential properties, including town properties, the assessment has

been set at 90 percent of the appraised sewer benefit. For churches, the

assessment was set at 33 percent, Mr Alagna said.

Mr Valente said the benefit of having sewers for commercial/industrial

properties ranged from $2,000 to $300,000 with the average being $74,000. The

benefit for residences ranged from $7,000 to $40,000, with the average being

$14,000, he said. But the WPCA is using the "mode" of $11,000 for the

residential assessment, 90 percent of which is $9,600.

Setting the assessment higher than $9,600 may result in too many court

challenges and in a greater chance of delinquencies by property owners who

cannot afford to pay, Mr Alagna explained.

Property owners may borrow the $9,600 in a loan with two percent interest and

repayment spread over 20 years. The cost to the homeowner will amount to about

$590 a year. Property owners also must pay for the cost of hooking their

buildings to the sewer main and for yearly user fees.

Polly Brody of 65 Main Street was among the residents who came to the meeting

to complain about the cost of the sewer.

"I already pay $4,100 in property taxes," she said. "I expect to pay $590 a

year for the assessment and $250 to $300 a year for the user fee - close to a

$900 increase in my yearly tax bill. I also have learned that I will pay $25 a

foot times 60 feet ($1,500) for the hookup. I simply can't afford this, nor

can a lot of people who are on fixed incomes."

"A vintage house on Main Street will not be benefited," she insisted. "My

house is paid for. I don't think a $9,000 lien on my property will benefit it.

You have to take a hard look at how this is benefiting individual

householders."

Edwin Baumer, who lives at 23 Main Street, said he believed the assessment was

calculated so that the sewer users would pay the bulk of the cost, allowing

the town to be able to finance other capital projects such as the Booth

Library addition.

Benjamin Spragg, the town's finance director, said the impact of the sewer on

the town's tax rate could be to increase taxes by .37-mill over the 20 years.

He cautioned, however, that the first two years will be different. "The impact

on the mill rate in the first year, 1998, will be .34," he said. "The impact

in the second year will be .94. After that, it will drop to .37-mill."

Mr Alagna said several commercial/industrial properties may be added to the

sewer system and, as a result, would lower the amount of money that would have

to be raised by general taxation.

"The Yankee Drover - a $5 million construction project - is expected to be

started and completed by the time the sewers are in," Mr Alagna said. "The

Walnut Tree Village project may also be allowed to hook up. And there are two

properties on Edmond Road - Union Camp and Pitney Bowes - which are pumping

their septic tanks weekly but are not part of the sewer district."

Council member Win Ballard questioned whether the town would be able to buy

additional capacity in the sewer plant from the state.

"Yes, but we don't want the sewer system to be the device for uncontrolled

growth of the town," Mr Alagna replied.

"The WPCA has the authority and the right to set the assessments," Mr Mahoney

concluded. "They've done it and now we have to live with it. But this will be

a tough sell to the town."