Aldermen Approve Sewer Rate Increase to Fund EPA Orders

In order to fund , aldermen Tuesday voted 12-2 to raise sewer rates with one alderman urging a sunset on the increase.

Residents will see quarterly sewer connection fee increases of $6 per quarter or $24 a year, starting with their fall bills, under the Common Council action Tuesday.

Property owners with metered bills will see usage rates increase by 4 cents per 1,000 gallons of water, from $3.60 per 1,000 gallons to $3.64. 

Voting against were Aldermen Bill Carnell and Renee Lowerr.

Carnell said he wanted the council to set a time when the increases would expire and rates go back down, because they were being set for work the EPA ordered be done by 2015.

City Public Works Director Tom Grisa said the city routinely reviews it rates for needed changes and can do so with regard to this increase. Last year was the first time in eight years the city raised its rates, he said.

But Grisa cautioned, "I have never seen rates go down."

Carnell said he also was concerned residents may pay more than commercial users, under the plan.

Mayor Steve Ponto urged approval, saying the increase was required not only to fund the mandated private sewer inspections, but to do so in a way that would not endanger the city's highest triple-A bond rating.

"We're dealing here with a very serious matter," Ponto said.

He said the city "over time" would have done the inspections the EPA is ordering to find leaks of clear water into the sewer system but not at the faster pace being required.

"We really have a road to hoe," he said.

Ald. Dan Sutton — with several other aldermen grumbling their agreement — said the EPA was "singling out" Brookfield, Janesville and Oshkosh in its sewer inspections.

The EPA order says Brookfield diverted untreated sewage and storm water into local waterways 46 times between January 2004 and Feb. 28, 2011. A total of 6,461,910 gallons in seven years was diverted to tributaries leading to the Fox River or Lake Michigan.

When the EPA filed its order last year, Grisa said the overflows are done to avoid greater numbers of basement backups. He said the city has invested heavily in improving its sewer system and preventing storm water from entering and filling it, preventing additional overflows.

Grisa told aldermen the sewer rate increase should generate an estimated $400,000 in revenues to help fund the cost of of the city, including the older southeastern section.

The cost to inspect the areas could cost $934,000 to $1.2 million in 2012. In addition to sewer rates, the work would be funded with budgeted sewer funds and a general fund transfer.