Youngstown waste water customers could see rate increases for next 5 years
Customers of the Youngstown Waste Water Treatment Plant could see their bills go up over the next five years, in an effort to help cover the cost of mandated improvements to the plant.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Customers of the Youngstown Waste Water Treatment Plant could see their bills go up over the next five years, in an effort to help cover the cost of mandated improvements to the plant.
Youngstown City Council was presented with a consultant's report Monday evening that suggested raising rates in order to offset $76 million dollars in necessary upgrades to the Waste Water Treatment Plant.
Under the proposal, wastewater customers would see an eight percent increase in their bill every year for the next five years.
According to the report, the average household, using 700 cubic feet of water, would go from paying $78.57 per month in 2018 to approximately $115 per month in 2023.
The wastewater rates are determined, according to City Councilman Mike Ray, directly by the amount of water that a household takes in, which is measured through meters.
The $76 million in initial improvements to the treatment plant are what Councilman Ray calls phase one. They are improvement plans that the city has already approved or awarded contracts for.
Those improvements include electrical improvements, an 84-inch sewer replacement, UV disinfection systems, and more.
Portions of the improvement plans, such as $19 million for micro screens, have been funded through low-interest loans from the Ohio EPA which will need to be repaid.
The improvements are part of a mandate from the EPA to improve the aging system. In 2002 the Ohio EPA ordered Youngstown to spend $310 million on wastewater improvement.
According to our print partner The Vindicator, the EPA later lowered that amount, citing the burden that it would put on city residents.
Councilman Ray explained that additional work will be required to improve the wastewater treatment plant, which is expected to total $160 million.
A portion of the issues, Ray told 21 News at the meeting Monday night, is that the system is outdated.
Consultants previously estimated that 23 million gallons of untreated wastewater are discharged annually into Lake Newport due to rain events.
"This system works the way it was designed over a hundred years ago. The rain goes into the wastewater treatment plant and when there's too much, it gets discharged untreated into the river. Unfortunately, today's standards no longer allow for that," said Ray.
City officials are still considering the results of the study and trying to determine what consumers will end up paying.
The Waste Water Department's website says they service customers from portions of Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
However, The Mahoning Valley Sanitary Engineer's Office says customers in Austintown, Boardman, and Canfield townships will not see the rate increases because their rates are under contract until the end of 2019.
