Instead the municipality and MUA will work together to implement cost saving measures and eliminate inefficiencies.
For the time being, Evesham Township’s municipal government will not be dissolving the Evesham Township Municipal Utilities Authority and taking over water and wastewater services.
That was the news out the of the most recent council meeting, where Evesham Township manager Tom Czerniecki outlined steps the township would take moving forward to work together with the MUA in its current form to implement cost-saving measures.
“They (council) did direct me to explore opportunities to implement some of those findings short of dissolution,” Czerniecki said.
The MUA operates separate from the municipality and derives revenue from customers throughout the township. According to past presentations from the township, the MUA services water operations for about 96 percent of Evesham residents and sewer operations for 97 percent of residents.
One major area of cooperation Czerniecki outlined was related to road projects. Czerniecki has long lamented having the township perform much-needed road repairs, only to have the MUA conduct work under those roads months later.
Czerniecki said the MUA would now conduct its valve replacement work, which can help prevent future pipe problems, in conjunction with township’s road program.
After numerous research studies conducted on the MUA in the past year, Czerniecki said it was also discovered the MUA could eliminate three full-time positions for about $300,000 in savings.
Czerniecki said there was another $20,000 in estimated savings by having MUA employees assist the township with the enforcement of its abandoned properties ordinance, as MUA employees are often around town by virtue of their work.
“With all the redevelopment that’s been going on in town … we really haven’t been able to keep up as we would like,” Czerniecki said.
Czerniecki said legal advisors are also looking into ways the township could help the MUA retain less money in bond reserves. As the MUA does not have the power to tax, the entity is required to carry reserve funds to back its bonds.
Czerniecki said the township can’t free millions of dollars backing bonds, but in the future the township might be able to guarantee MUA debt or finance funds itself and then lend that money to the MUA, eliminating the need for such reserves.
Discussions regarding the potential dissolution of the MUA date back to last fall when Czerniecki presented council with the idea in response to a question on the best practices survey from the state.
Each year, the state asks municipalities to review any cost savings or efficiencies that could be gained from assuming responsibilities for local entities such as fire departments or municipal utility authorities.
Czerniecki did note the approval the state had granted to Evesham for dissolving the MUA would remain valid for the municipality until April, should council wish to revisit the issue.
However, all the related ordinances and legislation regarding the dissolution on a local level would need to be reintroduced to start the process again.
