A local developer is among those once again calling for a change in the sewage billing system in the municipalities under the University Area Joint Authority, which serves Patton, College, Harris and Ferguson townships.
An online petition for “Fair UAJA Billing Practice” calls for bills to be based on water usage, as occurs in State College Borough, which is also served by the UAJA but pays for service volumetrically.
Tom Songer II, president of Torron Group, and other residents and business owners hope the Centre Region Council of Governments mandate in an update to the Regional Act 537 sewage disposal program that the UAJA change its billing practices.
Songer said in a report sent to the media that his research shows that while Penn State and State College Borough have grown over the last 30 years, the university has been able to reduce water consumption by 25 percent, and State College Borough by 15 percent over the last 15 years.
Songer’s report points to plumbing fixtures that reduce the amount of water used, and thereby reducing the amount of sewer discharge. A change in the billing to base rates on the volume of water used would incentivize people in the townships to use those same practices, as well as make the system fairer, advocates say.
Currently, the billing system calls for a flat rate of $104 to homeowners in Patton, College, Harris and Ferguson townships, no matter how many square feet the house is or how many people live there. The business billing system charges a minimum of one EDU (equivalent dwelling unit) per business, meaning a building with 10 businesses, with only one employee per business, could be billed at 10 EDUs, but a single business with 10 people could pay significantly less.
Songer’s report cites the current Act 537 plan from COG, completed in 2006, that recommends the UAJA evaluate whether to move to a volumetric billing program. Now, local residents and business owners are looking to COG to address the issue at the next general forum meeting Monday, Aug. 28, and at an executive committee meeting Tuesday, Aug. 22.
The current Act 537 from COG says, “Some believe that this EDU-based method does not encourage water conservation since the sewer billing is based on EDUs, not actual water use.”
Cory Miller, executive director at UAJA, said the authority’s position on the subject is well known, that they would be willing to look at volumetric billing as part of a regional water conservation plan, for which no initiative yet exists. That would have to happen at a COG level, he said.
Miller said in 2005 an initiative passed through the COG public services and environmental committee then was handed over to the Chamber of Business and Industry, and the UAJA hasn’t heard back on the matter.
The UAJA manages about 250 miles of mainline sewers, according to its website. It is governed by an authority consisting of 10 members appointed from each of the participating municipalities.
Though Halfmoon Township is addressed in the COG Act 537 plan, its wastewater treatment is separate from the UAJA.
Songer suggested in his report the UAJA could reap adequate income to cover the cost of operations by charging households a base rate of $28.05 for the first 3,000 gallons of water used, and another $9.35 per 1,000 gallons after the first 3,000.
The petition can be found at www.uajapetition.com.
