BERLIN– Town residents will see a variety of fee increases on their utility bills next month.
Rate increases approved by elected officials in July are set to go into effect Sept. 1. The average resident will see their stormwater fee double and the implementation of new capital fees for water and sewer.
“We will put a message out before it goes into effect,” Finance Director Natalie Saleh said.
In July, the town council approved two resolutions aimed at improving the financial condition of the struggling utility funds. The council agreed to double the residential stormwater fee, increasing it from $50 a year to $100 a year, and to increase the non-residential rate to $35 per ERU (equivalent residential unit) annually with a minimum of $100. The increases are meant to help fund capital projects the stormwater utility hasn’t been able to afford in recent years.
“We’ve been looking at a stormwater fund with no investment in capital projects,” Mayor Zack Tyndall said at the time. “We hear that as one of the chief complaints from the residents, that our streets are flooding and our stormwater system is not up to par.”
If Berlin had not wasted tons of money on that Tyson property years ago, these increases would not be necessary now.