AVALON – Avalon Council introduced a resolution, July 26, that, if adopted, will restructure user fees for the municipality’s water and sewer rates. As previously reported, the main impact on user fees will come in the area of fees to support the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) expense.
Chief Financial Officer James Craft told council members at a previous meeting that the borough has not raised rates since 2018 and is no longer collecting the proper amount to cover the MUA expense line item. Craft also explained that the new ordinance will establish a tiered fee structure, ensuring a greater degree of fairness in billing with those who use the most water paying the highest amounts.
Other aspects of the ordinance address inequities in how multiple dwelling structures, like hotels and condominium buildings, are billed. Essentially, the change will have hotels continue to be billed as single entities but move condominiums to a process that ensures each living unit receives a quarterly bill.
Water and sewer bill amounts will be combined into one amount due with no impact on the rates.
The ordinance is expected to come up for a vote on adoption at the Aug. 23 council meeting. There will be a public hearing on the ordinance at that time.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
