Towns that send their sewage to the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority’s facilities for treatment and disposal are in a race for last place.
That’s because none of them wants to be first. Fees for the MUA’s treatment and disposal services are largely based on metered flow from town wastewater systems, with the towns that contribute the largest percentages of the total sewage flow charged the most.
MUA charges came up at Avalon Borough Council meeting Sept. 25, when Business Administrator Scott Wahl told the council that the borough had made significant repairs to its wastewater system in order to reduce its percentage of flow to the MUA.
In July, Middle Township adopted a sewer utility bond ordinance, with Mayor Chris Leusner explaining that keeping sewer infrastructure in good order reduces the opportunity for stormwater intrusion into the sewer system, preventing expanded flow to the MUA that would be reflected in the township’s bill.
The MUA was created by the county’s governing body in 1972. Its charge was the planning, designing and implementing of wastewater and solid waste management programs. It also plays a role in the county’s recycling efforts.
For wastewater management, the MUA has divided the county into four regions: Ocean City, Cape May, Seven Mile/Middle and Wildwood/Lower. Each of the four service areas has wastewater collection, transmission, treatment and disposal responsibilities.
In the MUA fiscal year 2024 rate-setting report, the total estimated flow to the MUA from its service areas was almost 4 billion gallons for the year, with summer flow being 1.4 billion and non-summer showing as 2.5 billion gallons.
Within that total flow, Ocean City leads the pack with 28% of the total by itself. The total for the four Wildwood communities combined is slightly higher, at 30%, Middle is at 9%, the three communities on Cape Island contribute 10%, and Stone Harbor, Avalon and Sea Isle City are at 22%.
Millions in sewer users fees flow in the same direction as the wastewater flow. The MUA’s proposed fees in 2024 included $10.5 million for Ocean City, more than $3.5 million for each of Avalon and Sea Isle City, $2.6 million for Middle Township and more than $12 million for the combined Wildwood communities.
If any participant can lower its percentage of the total flow, there is a clear payoff. This applies only to wastewater flow and not to the MUA’s fees for solid waste disposal.
Total wastewater flow is a major factor in MUA costs, and the percentage of that total flow is a determinant of a municipality’s share of those costs. It’s what local officials like Wahl and Leusner are referencing when they strive to stay ahead of the curve on their municipality’s percentage of wastewater flow.
Wahl informed council Sept. 25 that Avalon had lowered its percentage of the total flow over the last few years, leading to a savings in the water/sewer budget and making the borough’s investment in infrastructure repair worthwhile.
Leusner cited an uptick in MUA charges as part of the justification for the sewer utility bond ordinance, which will supply the funds for continued modernization of Middle’s aging system.
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