Oregon: Wastewater treatment fee proposed

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An ordinance that would establish a capital improvement fee for the City of Oregon’s wastewater treatment plant will be on the agenda of city council’s Nov. 25 meeting.
Paul Roman, director of public service, informed council’s committee of the whole last week that the fee is needed to pay off two loans that partially covered the cost of a grit removal and disinfection project at the treatment plant. By switching from a chlorine disinfectant to an ultraviolet light disinfectant the city will save about $35,000 annually in operation costs at the plant, he said.
The fee will cost users $1.33 per 1,000 cubic feet of wastewater. Roman’s office will be sending notices of the fee to users in their January 2025 water and sewer bills.
“Starting January 1, 2025, the average water and sewer bill will increase by $7.25 per quarter or $2.42 per month. The minimum water and sewer bill (inside city) will increase by $4.26 per quarter or $1.42 per month. Once all project loans are paid, the respective CI charge(s) will be removed from the bill,” the notice says.
Even with the new charge, Oregon’s 2025 rates will remain among the lowest rates in Northwest Ohio, the notice says. A chart showing a comparison of water and sewer rates in Oregon, Maumee, Toledo, Perrysburg, Findlay, Bowling Green, Sylvania, and other municipalities will be included with the notices, Roman said.
In addition to converting to an ultraviolet light disinfection system, safety upgrades were installed at the treatment plant, including aeration tanks and aerobic digesters.
To fund the project, the city received a $4.16 million grant from the Ohio Department of Development; a $900,000 grant and $900,000 no-interest loan from the Ohio Public Works Commission, and a low-interest loan of $1.87 million through the Water Pollution Control Loan Fund, a fund administered by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Assessment rate increase proposed
After hearing a report from Roman, council’s committee also approved placing an ordinance on the Nov. 25 meeting agenda that would increase the city’s sanitary sewer maintenance assessment rate.
The current rate of 28 cents per front foot was set by ordinance in 1982. The proposed ordinance before council would raise that to 75 cents per front foot.
A table compiled by the city’s finance department shows sanitary sewer service in 2023 cost $560,612. An assessment rate of 80 cents per front foot would have been needed for the system to break even.
“The average break-even rate over the last 10 years is 68 cents per front foot. Over the last five years, it’s gone up to 75 cents per front foot,” a memo to council says.
“This would loosen up money for lining sewers and other work we need to do that is more capital in nature,” Roman said of the fee increase.
The committee voted unanimously to place both ordinances on the agenda of this week’s regular meeting.