As previously reported, sewer rates are about to go up. At last night’s meeting, the Columbia Township board voted on the new rates for residential customers, starting January 1st. By lake.
Clark Lake $274.41
Vineyard Lake $238.11
Lake Columbia $208.41
The question most frequently asked about these increases is “why is Clark Lake’s rate higher than Vineyard Lake’s or Lake Columbia’s?” Columbia Township Treasurer John Calhoun says it’s about the age of the Clark Lake system. Clark Lake was first to install sewers, and the system is showing wear. Grinder pumps and other infrastructure are being replaced, and that adds to the overall cost.
Unlike Vineyard Lake or Lake Columbia, Clark Lake’s construction debt has been paid off. Vineyard Lake will pay off theirs in April 2023. Lake Columbia’s debt service will end in 2024. Affecting Lake Columbia’s rate is their cash balance. At Lake Columbia, many sewer customers opted to pay for their installations up front rather than over time, they have larger customer base, and their debt was refinanced several years ago. As a result their increase is not as high as Vineyard Lake.
But that still leaves the question of the SRI settlement. During the lengthy litigation, Columbia Township withheld paying its share of the SRI debt. To prevent a bond default, Jackson County stepped in and paid bondholders according to the agreement. The settlement requires Columbia Township to restore Columbia’s proportional share to the County. So, on December 20, 2022, Columbia Township will pay the County $550,000, which will come from various Columbia Township accounts. Now that the litigation is over, SRI debt payments resume for Columbia Township sewer customers, including for Clark Lake. As part of Clark Lake’s $274.71 quarterly bill, that amounts to $9.30.
Sewage flows from Columbia Township to Leoni Township where it is processed. Columbia must pay Leoni for that service. Costs tend to vary, but they mostly go up. A recent change in maintenance providers also affects costs. Up until summer, the Brooklyn DPW contractually handled maintenance issues including repair or replacement of individual grinder pumps and lift stations. At that time, Brooklyn reevaluated their obligations and determined they could no longer continue the contract, and exercised a 60-day out. The new provider, JK, has stepped in to cover those maintenance issues, but at an increased cost.
Unless the board indicates a reduction for Clark Lake residences after the other two systems have their debts retired, I fail to see the logic of a burdened rate of individual lakes rather than a blended rate given the sharing of one system. For this matter, if we’re going to divide costs to specific areas, why wouldn’t the greatest utilization areas bare the majority of the cost?
So when Vineyard Lake is paid off will their rates go up too? Will Clarklakes rates ever go down?
Clark Lake residents were told at the beginning of this project, as other areas came online our rates would be reduced. It never happened. Now it is so old and expensive to maintain, maybe we need to rip off the bandaid and replace it. As technology has changed, in the long run wouldn’t it be more cost effective to change and update our system? The price we pay is ridiculous. Before much longer we’ll be at $500 a quarter because our system is so much older and parts will be unavailable. Someone needs to do a deep study and figure out some new options.