Bills will rise in 2022 as Summit County OKs rate changes for its sewer district customers

Emily Mills, Akron Beacon Journal
·6 min read
Summit County seal
Summit County seal

Households in many parts of Summit County will pay more for sewer services in 2022 after County Council on Monday approved rate increases for the first time in a decade.

Rates for nearly all customers in communities served by the county's sewer department will increase 16% next year and the year after, with additional increases for all county sewer customers the following three years.

Council passed the measure 9-1, with District 8 representative Anthony DeVitis voting no. District 7 representative Bethany McKenney was absent from Monday's meeting, the last council meeting of the year before members went on winter recess until Jan. 3.

According to consultant Raftelis, which performed a cost of service study of the county’s sanitary sewer rates, while the county hasn’t increased rates in a decade, operating and treatment costs have increased in that time.

County Council hasn’t adopted legislation to raise sewer rates since 2006, with the last rate increase taking effect in 2011. (The council adopted new legislation on sewer rates in 2015, but the only change was a 10% reduction for flat rate residential, governmental and institutional customers, with everything else staying the same.)

The county says that, since 2011, its cost for treatment of sewage by third-party treatment facilities — primarily the city of Akron and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, which combined take about 60% to 70% of Summit County’s total flow — has more than doubled, representing a $14.3 million increase, which has created an estimated $7.8 million deficit for 2021.

Akron is responsible for paying for a court-ordered $1.1 billion sewer reconstruction project. Those costs are also passed on to Summit County customers, according to the county.

Michael Vinay, director of the county’s Department of Sanitary Sewer Services, previously said the county recently renegotiated a rate increase for third-party treatment with Akron. In the first year, it’s 28.5%, and it’s between 2.5% and 3.5% annually for the next three years.

Summit County sewer rates: Here's how Summit County's proposed sewer rate increases would affect customers

What are the new Summit County sewer rates?

The new rates take effect Jan. 1, 2022, with increases on Jan. 1 of each year in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Customers either pay based on water consumption measured by county meter readings or, for private well water users, monthly flat rates that are based on average metered usage.

There are currently two separate charge types for metered customers: per 1,000 gallons, and per 100 cubic feet of water. There are also three groups of metered customer types: residential/governmental/institutional, commercial and industrial.

Rates will increase for everyone except flat rate residential customers by 16% in 2022 and 2023. The rates for flat rate residential customers won't change in 2022 and 2023. Rates for all customers, including flat rate residential customers, will increase by 7.5% in 2024 and 6.5% in both 2025 and 2026.

The rate for flat rate residential customers won't change for the first two years because the flow per typical residential customer has decreased, lowering the average.

The current rates include:

  • Per 1,000 gallons: $5.11 for residential/governmental/institutional, $5.70 for commercial and $6.54 for industrial.

  • Per 100 cubic feet of water: $6.67 for residential/governmental/institutional, $7.44 for commercial and $8.52 for industrial.

  • Monthly flat rate: $56.03 for residential/governmental/institutional, $69.37 for commercial and $79.59 for industrial.

The new rates include:

  • Per 100 cubic feet of water: $7.74 in 2022, $8.98 in 2023, $9.65 in 2024, $10.28 in 2025 and $10.94 in 2026 for residential/governmental/institutional; $8.63 in 2022, $10.01 in 2023, $10.76 in 2024, $11.46 in 2025 and $12.21 in 2026 for commercial; and $9.88 in 2022, $11.47 in 2023, $12.32 in 2024, $13.13 in 2025 and $13.98 in 2026 for industrial.

  • Flat rate for residential customers (per residential unit): remain at $56.03 in 2022 and 2023, increase to $60.23 in 2024, $64.15 in 2025 and $68.32 in 2026.

  • Flat rate for government and institutional (per benefit, which is 400 gallons): $65 in 2022, $75.39 in 2023, $81.05 in 2024, $86.32 in 2025 and $91.93 in 2026.

  • Flat rate for commercial (per benefit): $80.47 in 2022, $93.34 in 2023, $100.35 in 2024, $106.87 in 2025 and $113.81 in 2026.

  • Flat rate for industrial (per benefit): $92.32 in 2022, $107.10 in 2023, $115.13 in 2024, $122.61 in 2025 and $130.58 in 2026.

With the increases, rate revenue is expected to increase by 12.3% in 2022, 12.6% in 2023, 7.7% in 2024, 6.9% in 2025 and 6.9% in 2026.

The rate changes will affect 49,040 Summit County Department of Sanitary Sewer Services customers, including 7,393 in Hudson; 224 in Boston Heights; 2,623 in Sagamore Hills; 2,211 in Northfield; 1,155 in Twinsburg Township; 4,803 in Macedonia; 1,841 in Reminderville; 443 in Bath Township; 13 in Richfield Township; 12,209 in Stow; 135 in Silver Lake; 1,954 in Munroe Falls; six in Kent; 2,242 in Copley Township; nine in Fairlawn; 21 in Akron; 1,130 in Cuyahoga Falls; 2,396 in Coventry Township; 651 in New Franklin; 4,678 in Green; two in Mogadore; 507 in Lakemore; and 2,394 in Springfield Township.

The cities of Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and Barberton/Norton are not part of the county sewer system; they bill 81,000, 18,314 and 13,000 customers, respectively.

User charges for Jan. 1, 2027, through Jan. 1, 2031, will be adjusted annually based on the percentage change in the U.S. Consumer Price Index Water and Sewerage Maintenance Series, published by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, with an annual adjustment between 0% and 4.5%. Historically, it’s been a change of about 4% a year.

Billing charges will also be increased. They're currently $2.01 for flat rate customers and $4.80 for metered customers and will increase in 2022 to $3.18 for flat rate customers and to $5.30 for metered customers, with 2% increases for all customers each year from 2023 to 2026.

Discount programs, other assistance available

The county said sewer rate discount programs are available, and the Summit County Cares program can also provide utility assistance (along with rental assistance) to eligible residents.

The discount program includes a 10% reduction for eligible customers and an additional 25% for eligible flat rate customers in 2022 and 2023, changing to 10% after that. The Summer Sprinkling Program is a 10% discount for all residential customers in June, July and August.

Contact Beacon Journal reporter Emily Mills at emills@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter @EmilyMills818.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Summit County Council OKs sewer district rate hike starting Jan. 1