EXPECT YOUR SEWER FEE TO GO UP THIS YEAR

The Township may need to raise the annual sewer rate by some $11, officials discussed at Tuesday night's TC meeting.

Township Administrator Joseph Manning told the TC that the Joint Meeting of Essex and Union counties, a regional agency that oversees the water treatment facilities for Maplewood and other communities, is increasing the fee it charges towns for treatment and other services.

Manning estimated the increase would likely mean the $175 annual fee, which has not been raised in about eight years, would likely go up to $186 for 2015. The Township did raise it for one year in 2013, to $193, to help cover a Joint Meeting lawsuit at the time. But it was lowered back to $175 last year.

"We recommend that since this is a self-sufficient utility that the increase be made in 2015," Mayor Vic De Luca said at the meeting. "Unfortunately this is not going to go away in the future."

The TC requested specific fee details and options for dealing with the Joint Meeting increase, as well as the history of the fee before approving an increase.