An increase to water and sewer rates in Milford Center was apparently put in place before it was ever voted on.
Milford Center Council member Terri Kean presented to council Monday her concerns about residents mysteriously being billed a $1.95 fee on their water and sewer bills for January. Then, she accused council member and temporary mayor Ron Payne, as well as other members Jeff Parren and Derek Wilson, of colluding with each other and intended to introduce the fee without telling anyone else about it.
“To me, I’m taking it that all of you knew about it before it hit the bill, and that it wasn’t a mistake,” Kean said.
Village Fiscal Officer Dawn Barnhart said the $1.95 charged to all residents was her accounting error. She said when the ordinance was introduced on the temporary budget in December, she and Utilities Clerk Kathy McCoy mistakenly put it onto residents’ bills for January.
“In the past, it was always an automatic thing because we had an ordinance that said it was an automatic thing,” Barnhart said. “You guys suspended it for the one year, according to the way the resolution was written, and when we brought it back, I goofed up.”
Payne said the additional fee was a mistake in billing, and suggested a credit be dispersed to residents on their payment for March’s water and sewer bills.
“It was an error, a mistake,” Payne said. “Nobody was trying to screw anybody. It just wasn’t understood properly.”
Payne said he wanted to correct an issue with the original ordinance in January 2017 that suspended the fee increase for that year. He said it was continued without any action taken for 2018, “even though the resolution didn’t say that.”
In December, council passed a temporary budget that had the 3 percent increase forecasted. At that meeting, council member Don Jones said he would only approve the budget if there would be a way to vote for the removal of the fee from the actual 2019 budget.
Jones said he believed his vote to pass a temporary budget was under false pretenses, as he believed an amendment to remove the increase would be introduced to the final budget. Instead, he said he also believed they secretly introduced the fee onto bills.
Payne said the increase was put into the temporary budget, but it was an anticipated fee to introduce.
Council then discussed if the resolution, which would introduce a 3 percent increase to water and sewer rates on residents, would be sensible to implement.
Jones said if a charge would be placed, he would want the collected fees to go to a separate fund dedicated to water and sewer maintenance, opposed to going to Marysville for sewer handling services.
“I understand that, if we don’t have some kind of increase, or don’t have money coming back in, we will deplete what we have and won’t be able to fix anything,” Jones said. “We’re paying an (exorbitant) amount to Marysville whenever it rains, so where’s your 3 percent going? It’s not going to help maintain the pipes and everything else.”
Village Operator of Records James House said the village is already paying a low rate for sewer handling fees, as it’s charged residential rates as opposed to county rates.
Kean said if a fee was charged, the village could never catch up to paying its bills.
Parren said a fee increase would make sure the village will have money to pay for any potential fee increases from Marysville. He said having some money to save is better than no money saved.
Kean said if the village spent as much time locating the infiltration source as it did discussing a fee increase, the village would be able to get the sewer line fixed.
Parren said a solution could be achieved by hiring experts to locate the infiltration source and fix the sewer lines.
He said collecting a fee would help with having the money to pay for such a project.
Jones said he’s still working with Village Administrator Chris Kise and Jeff Orzechowski, a manager with NS Services, to locate the infiltration. He said he’s engaging in “fact finding research” to locate the problem.
Kean said this needs to be accelerated, and Payne agreed.
The ordinance’s first reading was approved by council, with everyone voting in favor except for Kean.
Jones said he will host an open house, from 9 a.m. to noon, March 23, to ask residents if they know where their basement sub pumps or drains are connected. He said this will help with determining the infiltration location. He said a survey will also be distributed to residents as well.