By KATIE MORGAN | The Moorestown Sun
Moorestown residents may want to be more careful with how much water they use.
Council approved a water and sewer rate hike last week, much to the chagrin of several residents in attendance.
The approximate $600,000 budget gap in the utilities budget will be narrowed with an increase in water rates per every thousand gallons used and an increase in minimum sewage rates.
The sewage increase includes a per quarter base charge as well as a flat rate of $5 per every thousand gallons used. The base charge will increase from $10 to $20 for residential users and from $25 to $50 for commercial and industrial users.
The new water rate plan includes a “three-tier” system. Those using fewer than 25,000 gallons will pay $3 per every thousand gallons. The second tier consists of those using 25,000 to 50,000 gallons, who will pay $6.50 per every thousand gallons. The third and final tier consists of users consuming more than 50,000 gallons — they’ll pay $6.90 per every thousand gallons.
“This is a guaranteed source of revenue to balance the budget,” said Township Manager Chris Schultz. “When we looked at expenses last year, the sewer expenses were higher than overall revenue.”
On average the city consumes about 1.2 billion gallons each year. In 2009, Moorestown experienced what Director of Finance Tom Merchel called “an anomaly.” The extremely wet year resulted in the use of 900 million gallons, 300 million below normal. Though this left the city with a surplus of water, the previous agreement required a further water purchase. This resulted in a $1 million shortfall, which carried over into this year’s budget.
Merchel explained, “we basically bought water we didn’t really need last year for $1.9 million.”
The township of Moorestown gets its water from two sources. Some water is pumped from local wells, while the rest is purchased from New Jersey American Water. The township has an agreement with the water company to purchase a certain number of gallons each year at a rate of $5.75 per every 1,000 gallons.
Council member Greg Gallo called the state-required split between water pumped from local wells, and water purchased from the state a “ridiculous set-up.”
“It’s not the township’s creation,” he said. “It’s the state.”
Residents will notice the new charges in their August utilities bill. John Logue, a Moorestown resident, questioned the rate increase’s retroactive application.
“This increase will be applied to the water we’re using now,” he said. “Shouldn’t we have been told about this so we could start conserving?”
Moorestown resident Mike Locatell praised the “three-tier” system.
“It makes sense,” he said. “If you’re conserving well you’ll pay less.”
