Average quarterly sewer bills could rise 15%

Friday, August 01, 2003

By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The Allegheny County Sanitary Authority warned yesterday that unless it gets a $5.5 million state grant soon, it will have to raise rates by at least 15 percent and lay off some of its 300 employees.

The rate hike could add about $7 to the average customer's quarterly sewer bill, which now stands at about $47.

The exact amount of the rate increase will not be determined until the end of August and won't be announced until early September, Alcosan spokeswoman Nancy Barylak said yesterday. The rate increase would take effect Jan. 1.

Barylak said the current average bill of $47 is based on sewage rates of $2.23 per 1,000 gallons of water used, plus a quarterly customer service charge of $4.69.

Things could get even worse. Because of increased operational costs at Alcosan and the planned elimination of the $5.5 million grant next year, rates could increase again, officials said.

Alcosan officials said they were making their financial plight known publicly because Gov. Ed Rendell and the state Legislature are mired in a budget stalemate that has prevented approval of a $5.5 million grant for wastewater treatment operations.

Barylak said 2003 is the final year for such state grants, which are made under Act 339. It rewards treatment plants for upgrading capacity and reducing the flow of untreated sewage into rivers. Alcosan has an ongoing program to increase the capacity of its treatment plant on the North Side, reducing foul odors and keeping sewage from entering the Ohio River during heavy rain.

Alcosan is under heavy pressure from the federal Environmental Protection Agency for such improvements, which could end up costing the authority and local governments as much as $3 billion over the next 10 years.

"It is inexcusable the commonwealth could even consider denying any sewage infrastructure funding when the region is facing a $3 billion federally mandated sewer rehabilitation program," said Alcosan Executive Director Arletta Scott Williams.

When Alcosan's 2003 budget of $41 million took effect on Jan. 1, it included a $5.5 million state grant under Act 339. The money goes into Alcosan's operating budget, even though it's based on the amount of capital improvements it has made.

Barylak said the $5.5 million was among the funding cut by Rendell in the bare-bones budget he released in March, but Alcosan had hoped the grant would be restored, at least in part, by now.

With the Legislature failing to complete its work by the usual deadline of June 30, and with no end to the budget impasse currently in sight, Barylak said Alcosan thinks the chances of getting the grant are slim.

The agency has ordered each department to reduce spending by 10 percent, she said, but further budget steps were needed, so Alcosan decided to make public the need to raise rates and/or lay off workers. Alcosan hasn't raised rates for the past two years.

Alcosan Chairman Harry Readshaw, a Democratic state legislator from Carrick, said the wastewater treatment agency joins other victims of the stalemate in Harrisburg, including the Port Authority, libraries and health and human services.

"You don't have to ride the buses, but the last time I checked, everybody has to use the sewage system," Readshaw said. "The effect of the state budget situation on Alcosan hasn't been a high priority [in the public view] but it should be."

"Wastewater treatment is not an optional service in an urbanized area," Williams said. "Lack of wastewater funding will impact close to 900,000 people in the Alcosan service area alone and many of our customers are seniors on fixed incomes."

Alcosan provides service to 83 communities in the Pittsburgh region.

In a related matter yesterday, Rendell said failure to finalize a budget "is beginning to cause real pain, real harm." He urged the Legislature to return to work.

The Senate has recessed indefinitely and its members are on six-hour call. The House returns to session for two days next week, but has no budget-related business scheduled.

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