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Water and sewer customers of the City of Lebanon Authority (COLA) will see a 5-percent rate increase on both bills starting in April.
“We are asking for a 5-percent increase to make our budget work,” COLA executive director Jon Beers said at Monday’s authority board meeting. “A lot of our costs are driven by the need for improvements for the sewer treatment plant and replacement of water mains.”
For a home or other building using 132 gallons a day, the increase will be about 8 cents a day, Beers estimated.
COLA is projecting water revenues of $11,449,800, the bulk of which comes from the sale of water to 20,300 customers including residences, churches, commercial enterprises and industries. Operating expenses which include water supply, treatment and distribution are estimated at $9,737,429 with the difference allocated to capital improvement projects.
Among those improvements is replacement of water mains. The authority has 100 miles of cast iron water mains that are prone to leakage and breaking. Cost to replace those mains is about $2 million per mile, Beers said.
Capital improvement projects in 2024 are estimated to require $5,949,735, so the authority will need to dip into reserves.
Even with the increase, COLA water rates are lower than seven other entities supplying water to customers throughout the county, according to a 2023 study of Lebanon County water rates done by Steckbeck Engineering & Surveying Inc.
Calculating the impact of the sewer rate increase is more complex as COLA only directly bills its customers in Lebanon city. Those 8,300 customers will see a 6-cents-a-day increase based on a sewer usage of 132 gallons, Beers said.
For sewer customers living in townships served by COLA, those municipalities set their own rates, Beers said. So while COLA bills each township for sewer treatment, the townships can add system maintenance costs to their bills.
Quarterly rates for Lebanon city residents will be $103.06. In 2023, COLA sewer rates were the lowest among the county’s other 26 authorities, according to the Steckbeck study.
In other business, the board awarded a $3.7-million contract to Pact Construction of Ringoes, New Jersey, for water main replacements in the area north and east of Lebanon Plaza. Work will likely start in March and go through the fall, Beers said.
The board also approved applying for an additional $5.65 million loan from PennVEST, a state Department of Community and Economic Development program that provides low-interest loans for improvements to public facilities. PennVEST had approved a $22.5 million loan for the sewer treatment project, but bids came in higher than expected.
PennVEST is expected to vote on the request for additional funds at its January 2024 meeting which will allow COLA to formally award bids in March.
Pact Construction also likely will be awarded the general construction contract for upgrades to COLA’s sewer treatment plant.
The City of Lebanon Authority Board meets at 2311 Ridgeview Road, Lebanon, on the second Monday of each month at 3 p.m. The next meeting will be Monday, Jan. 8. These meetings are open to the public and do not require registration.
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