STONE HARBOR – The Borough Council has adopted an ordinance that adds a $125 fee to the quarterly base sewer rate for the remaining three quarters of 2025.

The additional expense being passed on to ratepayers is required to accommodate a series of expense transfers from the general fund to the water and sewer utility as part of the borough’s 2025 budget process.

Council President Jennifer Gensemer explained the reasoning for the hike at an April 1 council meeting, noting that the utility budget had not been properly accounting for expenses that were part of the general fund budget’s support for water and sewer operations.

These include pension payments for utility employees, liability insurance and workers compensation. The charges had incorrectly been put in the general fund budget, where they counted as cap expenses.

In an effort to bring the 2025 budget under the state-imposed appropriations cap, the transfer of these water/sewer expenses to the utility budget was required. That transfer necessitated the fee increase.

Utility Committee Chair Ken Biddick said on April 1 that there would be a change in 2026 to the formula that sets water and sewer usage rates. He said that the new process for setting rates will most likely charge higher fees to property owners who have higher levels of usage.

According to the ordinance as adopted on May 6, the $125 new fee was added to the sewer portion of the utility rate structure. It is meant to help offset charges imposed by the county Municipal Utilities Authority. The ordinance made no change to the current quarterly base rate for water.

Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.