NSTMA seeks to raise sewer rates
North Strabane Township Municipal Authority seeks to raise its sewer rates in 2017.
When added to the rate increase recently adopted by Canonsburg-Houston Joint Authority, which hold agreements with five municipalities, including North Strabane Township, to treat sewage, customers will pay an additional 75 cents per 1,000 gallons.
The increases will add approximately $43 to the annual bill of a household, according to Matt Marasco, manager of NSTMA, raising it to about $528 a year.
North Strabane Township supervisors will vote Tuesday on a motion to advertise an ordinance to amend the current user rate schedule to include increases in monthly sewer charges proposed by CHJA for a five-year period. The amendment also will include the NSTMA increase in monthly user charges.
Marasco said the rate increase will help fund payments on $53.3 million in bond debt the CHJA incurred last year to fund infrastructure upgrades and improvements.
Marasco also said the township last year did not reach the expected number of tap-ins it relies on to help pay for a $900,000 debt service.
The NSTMA rate increase is the first in five years, Marasco said.