Judge to rule on CHJA rate increase
A Washington County judge heard several hours of testimony Friday in a case in which several “tributary” towns question the basis for the latest rate increase enacted by the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Authority.
Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Lucas concluded the proceeding without a ruling on a request for a preliminary injunction by North Strabane, Cecil and Chartiers townships and North Strabane’s and Cecil’s local municipal authorities against the increase – which would mean an additional 66 cents per 1,000 gallons of water on the bills of more than 18,000 customers – CHJA approved Jan. 24.
“We’re asking for transparency and justification,” said Romel Nicholas, the plaintiffs’ lead attorney, following the hearing. “That’s all we’ve ever asked for.”
The authorities’ rates are already rising through 2021 under a resolution the authority approved two years ago to cover a $50.3 million bond issue for plant upgrades.
The new increase brings the 1,000-gallon rate to $6.42 instead of $5.76 this year.
In November, the authority told municipalities it was planning a series of yearly increases through 2021. At last month’s meeting, its board instead adopted a single one that was about smaller than initially proposed.
Board members justified the abrupt change in CHJA’s plans by relying on a projection of 270 new taps next year, instead of the only 100 it previously claimed it expected. The authority charges $2,178 for each new “equivalent dwelling unit.”
Board Chairman Robert Luksis and other authority officials say they can account for why they need the rate increase, which customers won’t see in their bills until April if the court does let it take effect.
“You even heard their testimony today that the plant is in good shape,” Luksis said. “Well, I can attest and I would invite anybody to come on down and look at that plant. It’s not in good shape. We are required by law to upgrade this plant in order for North Strabane, Chartiers and Houston to continue to grow.”
He added that the more than 50-year-old plant is “falling apart.”
“So the longer we delay these improvements, the more all these improvements are going to ultimately cost,” he said.
The CHJA board is made up of political appointees selected by Canonsburg and Houston councils. Those boroughs aren’t participating in the litigation.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers said CHJA violated a 60-day notice requirement in its service agreement with the municipalities by adopting a rate increase that differed from the one it had said it was planning in November.
That proposal itself amounted to CHJA scaling back a previous increase the authority board approved in April before the three towns took it to court.
That increase would have doubled customers’ bills through 2021 to help CHJA pay debt service on $22.4 million in new debt it was planning to incur at the time. The authority canceled that bond issue, and in November it rescinded the first rate increase.
The same plaintiffs brought new litigation in January ahead of the latest increase in rates. As part of that case, they also challenged a ban on new taps CHJA declared in late October.
The towns’ lawyers pointed to documents from CHJA’s own engineers that allegedly contradicted CHJA’s assertion that its plant was at capacity.
Lucas granted a temporary injunction against that ban last month. On Friday, the authority agreed to send the local governments a letter saying it had lifted the ban.