Sewer improvements at Berne to bring first rate hikes since 2014
After years of consideration, an almost $14 million estimated sanitary sewer improvement plan in Berne is moving forward and will bring monthly rate increases.
That was part of a wide-ranging discussion at the February 12 session of the Berne City Council with two experts: engineer Ben Adams of Commonwealth Engineers of Fort Wayne and certified public accountant Jeffrey Rowe of the Baker Tilly municipal advisory firm in Mishawaka, Indiana.
Adams said the estimated $13.8 million plan includes upgrading the lift station on Parr Rd. with larger pumps, rebuilding the Main St. lift station and installing special “wet weather” pumps that can handle heavier downpours as climate changes, and improving other parts of the sewer system.
The project is being done to comply with federal mandates enforced by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
The project is tentatively slated to be done in 2026, but will have several steps, including the first public hearing at a city council meeting, perhaps this April, so citizens can have their say, but also can begin to plan ahead.
Adams said Berne will seek a large loan from Indiana’s State Revolving Fund (SRF): the same agency that has provided millions of dollars to the county’s rural sewer system.
Rowe referred to a Baker Tilly sewer rate study and a preliminary rate analysis, then said there will be 109 cities and towns in Indiana trying to get SRF money this year. He and Adams said the SRF will announce which places will get money in July.
One financial fact in Berne’s favor, said Rowe, is that its storm water debt is paid off, so there’s room
to handle debt from this sanitary sewer project.
Sewer rates
There are no exact numbers yet on what the higher rates could be, which Mayor Gregg Sprunger re-emphasized after the meeting.
Rowe gave this preliminary summary:
–Berne’s residents pay $41.27 per month for sewer services when they create at least 4,000 gallons of sewer water per year. Under two possible types of bonds to pay back the SRF loan, monthly bills could rise to either $76 or $87 for those locations.
–For those sites which create only 2,000 gallons of sewer water annually, rates could rise from the current $23 per month to either $42 or $48.
–Rowe suggested that rate hikes could done in three stages: onethird at a time, with two increases this year and the third after the bids are received from contractors trying to win the project.
–He also said rate hikes could be done by rising 30%, 30%, then 40%.
He further said Baker Tilly studied 10 area cities and towns to see how Berne’s sewer rates compare and found that its rates ranked third-lowest (in eighth place) for 4,000-gallon users, with the top seven places having monthly rates from highs of $72 or $73 to $42. Among the communities listed were Decatur, Bluffton, Markle, Ossian, Portland, Monroe, and Roanoke. He added that half of the 10 are planning to raise their rates within the next year.
Turning to the rural sewer districts, Rowe said his firm checked Adams, Jay, Wells, and Huntington counties and found monthly bills ranging from $71 to $159. In Adams County, the bill has stayed at $93.30 per month since the sewer district was created in 2015.
City councilman Rod Mason called the rate hikes “pretty impressive,” meaning considerably large, but pointed out that “there really is no alternative” since state and federal guidelines are requiring the planned improvements.
Good news
Mason did provide some good news when he said he recently learned from a news broadcast that very small Hagerstown, Indiana (population about 1,700) is facing a $29 million estimated sewer improvement plan, Berne has a population around 4,000. He said he’s very glad to hear that Berne’s plan is less than half of what Hagerstown’s is proposed to be.
Councilman Ron Dull figured that the possible monthly increases for Berne residents would range from 83.5% to 111%, based on present estimates, although the rates are far from final, as was stated at the meeting.
Mason said his goal is to have the city and its residents pay the lowest possible loan interest for this project.
Councilwoman Kelly Amstutz said the three-part rate hike concept Rowe mentioned makes sense to her because numerous older people and lower-income families live in the city.