(Left to right) Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini and resident William Luneski, who said the new rates are unfair to multi-family home owners.
ANSONIA — The city’s Board of Aldermen on Monday voted to adopt new sewer rates as officials get ready to privatize its Water Pollution Control Authority.
Earlier this year the Aldermen approved selling the city’s sewer system to Aquarion for $41 million.
City officials maintain that selling to Aquarion will be cheaper for residents in the long run, namely because the city’s sewage plant needs work. Click here for a previous story.
The sale is scheduled to close Dec. 3.
On Nov. 25 the Aldermen held a public hearing on new sewer rates, and then a second meeting where they approved the rates.
The video below contains both meetings.
The rates are going up — from $3.73 per 100 cubic feet to $5.15 per 100 cubic feet in single family homes.
The fixed fee customers pay is also going up — from $230 a year to $317 a year for single-family houses.
The owner of a single-family house using 55 cubic feet of water per year would see their bill go from about $435 a year to about $600 a year.
However, $7 million from the sale is being put aside in a “rate stabilization fund.” Those millions will be used over the next 10 years — a little less every year — to ease the blow of rate hikes.
In the first year of the Aquarion takeover, customers shouldn’t see a bill increase, officials from Mayor David Cassetti’s administration said.
While sewer rates are scheduled to increase by 34 percent in the next five years, officials said the rate stabilization fund will soften the blow for users to some extent each year. Click here for a previous story.
See the image below that uses an example comparing the new rates to the old rates, and the millions being set aside to counterbalance rate increases.
At Monday’s public hearing, resident William Luneski said the new rate structure makes multi-family houses pay a higher rate than single-family houses. That’s not fair, and will disproportionately impact people renting, he said.
“Ansonia recharged has become Ansonia overcharged for working families,” Luneski said, referencing the Cassetti’s administration’s “Ansonia Recharged” marketing and political slogan.
The new rates for two-family houses are going from $3.73 to $6.81, plus a fixed fee going from $460 a year to $476 a year. A two-family house using 95 cubic feet of water a year would see their bill go from $814 a year to $1,123.
However, throwing in the subsidy, the new annual bill on year one should be around $828, according to info from Aquarion.
Luneski, citing information from Data Haven, said 44 percent of Ansonia’s housing stock is multi-family. He pointed out peoples’ wages are stagnant, but costs connected to housing are sky high — such as electricity, natural gas, and rent. Ansonia’s new rates add to the struggle, he told elected officials.
“Is this board aware of what cost burdening is?” Luneski asked.
Resident Joseph Confinante asked questions about how Ansonia planned to use the $41 million from the sale. He said $5 million was used to close a budget hole and $7 million was used to subsidize rate increases.
“Where is the other $29 million going?” he asked.
Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini said the money would be used for capital expenses, to cut city debt and to bolster the city’s fund balance (reserve funds). He said the specifics will emerge in Ansonia’s budgets.
Confinante questioned why Ansonia will still be paying for items such as upgrading the sewage processing plant when Aquarion is buying it.
The public hearing was held using the Zoom video conferencing platform, which showed 44 users in attendance. Four members of the public spoke, along with Marini and a representative from Aquarion.
Marini also noted public hearings on rates will not be held annually.
After the public hearing ended, the Board of Aldermen held a second meeting during which they voted to approve the new rates. All Aldermen in attendance voted yes. Two Aldermen — Dan King and Chicago Rivers — abstained.
The Aldermen unanimously voted to appoint three people to a sewer system “customer advisory board.”
The appointees are Brandon Rodriguez, Richard Bshara, and Sean Massi. Up to seven additional members could be appointed in the future.
