Akron will be charging more to take sewage from its neighbors.
Council rushed a plan Monday to up sewer rates for noncity residents, including customers in Cuyahoga Falls, Lakemore, Springfield Township, Tallmadge and the Montrose and Mud Brook areas.
The rate hike was introduced and approved on the same day instead of receiving a second reading a week later as most proposals get.
The new rates are retroactive and would increase the cost per 1,000 gallons of waste from the current rate of $2.69 to $3.18 in 2019.
The impetus behind the rate increase, which comes as the former agreement expires, is clear: Akron has been saddled with what it calls an “unaffordable” $1.14 billion upgrade to a combined sewer and rain water system that city residents and outlying customers alike benefit from.
“They are now going to be paying their fair share for all of our problems,” James Hardy, Mayor Dan Horrigan’s chief of staff, told council Monday. “It goes all the way down to water reclamation.”
Neighboring communities pump sewage to Akron’s treatment facility at the edge of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The average city customer pays $10 more per 1,000 gallon of waste, which is metered by house. The discrepancy, Akron engineers and public utility administrators explained, is because Akron’s bill is on top of what neighboring customers already pay for their respective sewer systems, which handle the bulk of their waste.
Councilman Bruce Kilby, vice chair of the Public Utilities committee, questioned whether the increase was in line with the additional cost Akron residents have been asked to shoulder in higher water and sewage bills.
“I do believe that this is a god deal,” said Hardy, “and that the outlying communities understand that this is one system” sharing the sewer project cost.
While before council, Hardy and other city administrators, including Public Service Director John Moore and Utilities Manager Andre Blaylock, presented council members with feedback on two programs designed to soften the blow for city water customers who now pay 70 percent more.
From July through the end of 2016, the Utility Bill Relief Program, which curbs catastrophic costs from unusual circumstances, distributed $112,345 to 175 customers with leaky toilets, $32,395 to 36 account holders whose pipes burst and $14,074 to nine homes with underground leaks that often are unknown until the bill arrives.
Administrators also announced that $66,644 has been collected from Akron donors and distributed twice annually to customers who qualify for Akron Cares by demonstrating need through receipts of government utility or unemployment assistance, current or past due medical bills of $1,000 or more, or divorce papers no older than six months.
In the last application period on Jan. 26, it took less than 24 hours to deplete funds.
Fed by customers, donations can be one time or added to monthly bills. The city matches dollar-for-dollar. Customers can set up recurring donations online through their account, over the phone at 330-375-2554 or in person at the Utilities Business Office, 146 S. High St.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .