Rutigliano Looks to Change Sewer Rates for User Fairness

HARTFORD- State Rep. David Rutigliano (R-123) today testified in the Energy and Technology Committee on his proposal which would stop the anti-consumer practice of charging sewer fees for summer water usage.

The legislation, HB-5346, An Act Concerning Residential Sewer Use Charges During the Summer Months would set the charges for a residential user’s connection with and use of a sewerage system during the summer months at an amount based upon the average volume of water discharged to the sewerage system during the nonsummer months.

For many years, it was common practice for sewer authorities to average the three non-summer month quarters and base the summer charge on the average of these three quarters.

“Sewer rates are currently set based on your water usage. This is not an accurate reflection of true sewer usage, especially during the summer months when more water is used for pools, gardens, and lawn sprinklers, but not necessarily drained into and processed by our sewers. Most of the additional water used in the summer months is absorbed into the ground, bypassing our sewer system entirely”, said Rep. Rutigliano. “Since not all of the water used during the summer is making its way back into the sewers, it seems unreasonable for the sewer usage fees to be based on water usage since the two are not necessarily synonymous with one another.”

Rutigliano added, “This change in the law will allow for more transparency, fairness and accuracy in the usage and billing practices for our municipal sewer companies.”

The Energy and Technology Committee deadline to vote on bills is March 24.