Hold on to your wallet - here comes Levy-son

At Monday's BOT Meeting Howard "Levy" Levison announced an 8% increase in our Sewer Bill (to $280/year) and and 8% increase to the South Orange portion of our water bill.

They've got us for fluid coming in and fluid coming out.  

Are they trying to run is all out of town. What is the purpose of raising water rates for a company we aren't going to use anymore. And why more than twice inflation

Its really incredible if you think about what these people are doing. They have three things they do. They Cut Services, They increase expenses with unnecessary projects and then They Raise Taxes. 

They dont care about the people of this town.

Did the Joint Meeting increase  the sewer charges? 

Can't we all just agree to shoot the messenger?  

Joint Meeting increased sewer charges.  Maplewood sewer rates are going up too.

scottgreenstone said:

Its really incredible if you think about what these people are doing. They have three things they do. They Cut Services, They increase expenses with unnecessary projects and then They Raise Taxes. 

They dont care about the people of this town.

 Scott - that's a little harsh.  We now have a $5000 survey tool to find out what browser 13 people are using, don't we?

Maplewood's rate is going up to $186 - nearly $100 less than South Orange

michaelgoldberg said:

scottgreenstone said:

Its really incredible if you think about what these people are doing. They have three things they do. They Cut Services, They increase expenses with unnecessary projects and then They Raise Taxes. 

They dont care about the people of this town.

 Scott - that's a little harsh.  We now have a $5000 survey tool to find out what browser 13 people are using, don't we?

  You know, if you hadn't quit, you could have had an impact in all this...

:-p

Seriously - particleman is right Michael This constant increase in everything just cannot be sustainable. 5% here, 4% there, 8% somehwere else, while salary increases are not in line with these.  How can we keep going like this?

I just hope the write in campaigns work and we get them out.

scottgreenstone said:

Its really incredible if you think about what these people are doing. They have three things they do. They Cut Services, They increase expenses with unnecessary projects and then They Raise Taxes. 

They dont care about the people of this town.

 I don't have a horse in this race, living in Maplewood, but I'd venture to say that if these people volunteer countless hours governing South Orange, they care about the people in South Orange.

jeffl said:

scottgreenstone said:

Its really incredible if you think about what these people are doing. They have three things they do. They Cut Services, They increase expenses with unnecessary projects and then They Raise Taxes. 

They dont care about the people of this town.

 I don't have a horse in this race, living in Maplewood, but I'd venture to say that if these people volunteer countless hours governing South Orange, they care about the people in South Orange.

I don't know about that.  But if I were them I wouldn't read MOL.

Since we are about to move to SO, how much is most people's average water bill?

Hasn't MW been collecting more than the Joint Meeting charge in order to try to smooth out increases?  Hope this didn't just end up in the general fund and spent on whatever the program of the day was,

I thought South Orange had "goosed" the sewer charge in order to collect money from Seton Hall (which is exempt from property taxes).  The overage would be going into the general Village coffers.

No.  Maplewood did a one time increase to cover legal fees associated with Joint Meeting.

bobk said:

Hasn't MW been collecting more than the Joint Meeting charge in order to try to smooth out increases?  Hope this didn't just end up in the general fund and spent on whatever the program of the day was,

Joan - so did South Orange, but that one time thing if I recall, never came off. 

Depends on how much you use. Ours is $110+/-. It's not monthly. We have a small house/yard with one bathroom

relx said:

Since we are about to move to SO, how much is most people's average water bill?

I said it before , the sewer bill should be directly correlated to the water bill. Like in other towns. Everyone pays there fair share. 

Not sure how this would be done if water and sewer are provided by two different companies.

It came off in Maplewood.  I can't speak for SO.

scottgreenstone said:

Joan - so did South Orange, but that one time thing if I recall, never came off. 

scottgreenstone said:

I just hope the write in campaigns work and we get them out.

 Are there actual write in campaigns for the upcoming election in South Orange?  If so, what names?

It seems to me it would have been better to have collected signatures to get a name on the ballot, if someone wanted a challenge made to the incumbents.  I understand that running a campaign as a single candidate is difficult, but it can't be any worse or less-promising than a write-in campaign.

What about people with sprinklers for the lawn?  That water doesn't go into the sanitary sewer system. 

joan_crystal said:

Not sure how this would be done if water and sewer are provided by two different companies.

Same as it is now,  the town bills for both services in south orange not the providers. I rather pay for the services directly to avoid the extra fees that are tacked on. 

ace11 said:

I said it before , the sewer bill should be directly correlated to the water bill. Like in other towns. Everyone pays there fair share. 

What other towns?  

bobk said:

What about people with sprinklers for the lawn?  That water doesn't go into the sanitary sewer system. 

There are many ways to achieve this, from bypass meters to just using the other three quarters,  omitting the summer quarter. Or just plain old pay on everything as the differential isnt that big anyway. This would more accurately put the cost factors on the biggest users of the system. In addition people who conserve more will see a greater incentive. Smaller families and retirees should see a reduction in there bills. 

cramer said:

ace11 said:

I said it before , the sewer bill should be directly correlated to the water bill. Like in other towns. Everyone pays there fair share. 

What other towns?  

 Many towns allow separate meters for in house water and sprinklers. The in house meter charges both water and sewer whereas the sprinkler water meter charges only water.

BG9 said:

cramer said:

ace11 said:

I said it before , the sewer bill should be directly correlated to the water bill. Like in other towns. Everyone pays there fair share. 

What other towns?  

 Many towns allow separate meters for in house water and sprinklers. The in house meter charges both water and sewer whereas the sprinkler water meter charges only water.

OK by me, since we're a two person household, and so long as separate meters are used for in house water and sprinklers. 

Maplewood is different then.  New Jersey-American Water bills us directly for water use, while the town bills for sewer service.

ace11 said:

joan_crystal said:

Not sure how this would be done if water and sewer are provided by two different companies.

Same as it is now,  the town bills for both services in south orange not the providers. I rather pay for the services directly to avoid the extra fees that are tacked on. 

 

My bills say something to the effect of south orange village water services.  No mention of east orange. You can pay the bill at village hall. Its been that way since they outsourced the water department.  East orange bills south orange, south orange collects the money plus there added fees for the billing. Has this changed recently?