AVALON – At the Avalon Council work session, July 12, the council heard a proposal from Chief Financial Officer James Craft and Tax Collector Eleanor Cifaloglio concerning proposed changes to the water and sewer fee schedule.
The proposal would institute three changes if eventually approved by the council.
The major fee change would be a reshaping of fees for the Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) revenue line, where, according to Craft, the borough has failed to collect the full amount being charged to the borough by the MUA.
As the fees are adjusted to collect the full MUA expense, the borough would also introduce a tiered structure based on usage. That tier structure would entail a new base level fee for those using 50,000 gallons or less.
Those households using 50,000 to 80,000 gallons would pay a higher rate. The highest rate would be paid by those using more than 80,000 gallons.
Craft said that the rates have not been raised since Sept. 1, 2018.
The second proposed change is a “simplification” of the bill by combining water and sewer billing. Cifaloglio emphasized that this would not entail any changes to what is owed but would merely represent a new presentation of the bill.
The third area of change comes regarding hotels, motels, and condo structures that were once hotels or motels. Hotels and motels would be billed as single units. Condos would have a billing for individual living units and would be on the same quarterly billing as every other homeowner.
As for the tier structure impacting the MUA charges, Craft said that just under 14% of properties would fall into the second tier, 50,000 to 80,000, and 5.5% would be in the third tier, above 80,0000, based on water usage in 2022.
This was a discussion item only, July 12, and there was no formal vote of the council on the changes.
