Residents Express Confusion, Frustration at RVSA Town Hall

Springfield Mayor Ziad Shehady and Finance Committee chair Jerry Fernandez faced two hours of pointed questions about the changes to sewerage billing from residents at a town hall meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

The meeting was held to address concerns about the township's decision to charge Rahway Valley Sewerage Authority fees as a separate utility rather than as part of property taxes. Over 30 residents showed up to ask questions and offer criticism and suggestions about the RVSA fees. In their responses, officials emphasized that the RVSA utility charge was fairer than the previous collection method, and that the assessment formula could change in the future.

The meeting began with a short presentation by Shehady. Shehady noted that the RVSA fee for Springfield has risen about $800,000 in the last decade. Shehady also noted that the fees were extremely unlikely to decrease anytime soon, they are entering a five-year peak due to the structure of bond repayment schedules undertaken by the sewerage authority to fund past projects.

"These things didn't happen overnight," Shehady said.

The township has no direct control over the independent sewerage authority, and Shehady, as he has been in past comments, voiced displeasure with past Springfield representation to the RVSA board. The RVSA has come under considerable fire for waste, excess and the pursuit of ill-conceived projects like the co-generation plant, a methane to energy conversion project that fizzled despite a $30 million investment. Shehady noted that that despite the township's evidently negative opinion of the RVSA, the township is still obligated to pay the bill.

"[The RVSA] were considering a direct billing method," Shehady said. "That would have cut us out of the picture and we wouldn't have any oversight."

He characterized the method chosen as the fairest given the township's alternatives, asserting that the township's formula, which correlates water usage with sewerage use in homes, non profit organizations, apartments and businesses, is more evenly distributed than when it was collected through property taxes. Jerry Fernandez noted that the township had collected over $400,000 in sewerage fees from apartments.

The RVSA would also have to hire people and create a mechanism to bill directly, meaning that RVSA fees would go up. Springfield's direct billing method is run through its taxation office using already existing staff.

Shehady said the township's chosen method "certainly wasn't perfect," but said the only completely accurate way to guage indoor sewerage use was to install meters on all properties, which would entail considerable expense.

In the questions following Shehady's opening remarks, residents expressed displeasure with the billing system.

"I don't think the fare you've put in place is either fair or transparent," one resident said.

The speaker and several other attendees of the town hall forum said that their sewerage use was dramatically less than the 48,000 gallon average for which they were charged the $250 minimum fee.

"The mechanism doesn't make any sense to me," another resident said. "People who conserve water are being penalized."

Officials said the fee formula can be changed if found to be unfair.

"This wasn't our number one option," Fernandez said, asserting that the government would be responsive to suggestions. "We will try to revise the formula and make it better."

Shehady and Fernandez also emphasized that Springfield residents were not being charged twice for RVSA fees, noting that the RVSA payments had been taken out of the property tax bill.

Officials also noted that acting RVSA Springfield commissioner Maria Abram would be stepping down following a recent child birth and that Fernandez would take her place (he noted that in the interest of saving taxpayer money, he would forgo the small travel stipend budgeted for commissioners).

Another resident noted that Summit homeowners receive a single annual bill for $170 and wondered why Springfield residents needed to pay more. Officials answered that Summit was on a different sewerage authority, and that Springfield would have to completely overhaul its sewerage infrastructure to join it.

The mood at the two-hour meeting was often contentious—one attendee walked out after complaining that he was not allowed to ask a question despite having his hand raised for some time—which one town hall observer chalked up to communication.

"They should have explained it more," former Township Committee member Harry Pappas said shortly after the meeting. "They should have started this process earlier on."

Speaking after the morning meeting, Fernandez said he believed residents had accepted the changes. 

"Afterwards, they seemed to understand it," Fernandez said. "Not that they liked it, but they seemed to understand it."