Council’s move on DELCORA will cost ratepayers

To the Times:

The Delaware County Council last week took two actions which will seriously hurt Delaware County residents by dramatically increasing their wastewater rates and wreaking havoc on the wastewater system. The council moved to dissolve a newly created Customer Trust Fund intended to keep wastewater rates at a reasonable 3% increase and to dissolve our 50-year old, well run authority.

Despite claims of transparency and open government, these actions were taken with no prior notice to DELCORA and with little to no public comment – all done during a pandemic at a time when Delaware County has the highest 14day case rates of COVID

19 in Southeastern Pennsylvania. And, while they are rushing to dismantle this well managed Authority and grab the funds set aside to help the ratepayers, County Council has not even told anyone how it intends to actually run a massive and complicated system meant to protect the public from waterborne diseases in just two weeks or prep time or how they will address the $1.2 billion worth of mandated work.

These shortsighted actions are being taken in an effort to raid DELCORA’s cash reserves which belong to ratepayers. The Delaware County Council has never contributed one dime to DELCORA in its fifty-year history. DELCORA’s cash on hand reserved to pay for shortterm improvements belongs to ratepayers not the Delaware County Council.

The public needs to ask what the council intends to do with its money and how it intends to pay for the $1.2 billion DELCORA capital improvements required by federal mandates.

In a public and transparent process including numerous public meetings, even two with Delaware County Council, DELCORA’s board voted to merge with Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater. This merger will allow DELCORA to spread out the $1.2 billion in future costs while also creating a Customer Trust Fund to keep ratepayers bills at a reasonable 3 percent increase. If the county is successful, ratepayers’ bills will soar to 10-12 percent increases every year.

These harmful, expensive and ill-considered actions by Delaware County Council must be stopped. I urge all citizens to contact Delaware County Council before its vote on June 3.

In a public and transparent process including numerous public meetings, even two with Delaware County Council, DELCORA’s board voted to merge with Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater. This merger will allow DELCORA to spread out the $1.2 billion in future costs while also creating a Customer

Trust Fund to keep ratepayers bills at a reasonable 3 percent increase. If the county is successful, ratepayers’ bills will soar to 10-12 percent increases every year.