Hayden J Emrah
WZBD.com
The town of Monroe is set to implement price increases on water, sewage, and waste management utilities, according to discussions at both its Aug. and Sep. council meetings. These price increases are likely to begin in October for trash and water, while sewage–while set for an increase–will not likely begin until the beginning of 2025.
Price increases include the following with information regarding each respective provider and start date for increase:
- Water: prices will increase from the current average monthly bill of $54.25 to $63.82, a $9.50 increase based on a 4,000 gallon monthly household average. Given the current funding discrepancy–the town simply isn’t charging enough to cover the costs currently–and lack of reserve funds on the utility, the price change will likely have to occur starting Oct. 1st. Water treatment for the town of Monroe is provided by the city of Decatur.
- Sewage: prices will increase from the current average monthly bill of $72.75 to $77.00, a $4.25 increase based on a 4,000 gallon monthly household average. While the increase will occur by 2025, it is not yet clear if the council plans to tier the cost increase over the next few years to meet their pricing requirements, as the sewage accounts are funded enough to hold off on a full price increase, all of which will likely be a point of discussion at their scheduled public hearing. Sewage treatment for the town of Monroe is provided by the city of Berne.
- Trash: prices will increase from $14.95 a month to $17.44 a month this year, following additional annual increases to $18.84 and $20.35 in the following years. Prices for owning additional trash cans will increase from $8.50 to $9.25 as well. This increase is set to begin Oct. 1st, and is the set rate given by the company Waste Management. Despite efforts from the town to contact other service providers, Waste Management is the only major trash service provider willing to operate in the town given its distance from Fort Wayne.
In August, the council met with Jeffrey Rowe and Kimberlee Savick of Baker-Tilly US to review the town’s water and sewage financials to ensure pricing and expenses could be adjusted accordingly to cover the town’s costs. Their calculations showed that the sewage fund, on average, requires $342,000 annually to operate and that Monroe is currently only collecting $322,800, which is why the 5.95% pricing increase is needed. As for the water fund, it takes $326,800 annually to cover costs and the town only collects $277,700, requiring a 17.68% increase for prices, resulting in the cost adjustments listed above.
One of the main reasons for such an increase stems from the fact that sewage pricing hasn’t been updated since 2019 and water pricing since 2020, and so the additional costs that the service providers have taken on to supply Monroe’s needs has gone up without a proper price increase for a few years. To help mitigate these costs, the town has debated the idea of covering some of the price increases temporarily with excess funds to help residents, especially those who live off of a fixed income, to better adjust to the pricing increase.
Before anything can be approved however, the town is required to hold separate public hearings for each utility, which will occur at the municipal building on Tuesday, Sep. 17th starting at 6 p.m., where all residents are welcome to discuss their thoughts and insights on the matter.
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