Sanitary board introduces nonprofit billing line amid customer complaints over recent rate increases

The Board of Sanitary Commissioners on Feb. 5 introduced Resolution 20 24-O2 to add a nonprofit billing line to the sewer rate schedule, after public comment from customers and outside wastewater partners about recent rate increases and billing changes.

The resolution, introduced by Commissioner William Overton, would add a nonprofit category with a $20 base fee and a $10 user fee. The board voted to introduce the measure for a future public hearing and required advertisement; it was not adopted at the meeting.

The nonprofit-line proposal followed public comments from several customers and stakeholders who said they had been surprised or economically strained by recent wastewater rate increases. Mark Abrell, attorney for the Liberty Regional Waste District, told the board the treatment contract between his district and Muncie requires notice before rate increases and asked that the board delay implementation of a newly issued bill by 120 days to allow review. "We'd request that you delay implementation of that for a hundred and twenty days because we just got the information...in the last few days of January," Abrell said.

Alan Kornblau, director of the Muncie Public Library, said his library’s wastewater charge more than tripled from the previous month, an unexpected increase he estimated would add about $11,000 to the library’s annual operating costs. "It was an extra over $900 that we had to pay in wastewater costs. It will come out to about $11,000 a year in extra costs that we didn't budget," Kornblau said.

Downtown business owner Robert Harmon described a separate billing problem in which his recent statement showed "0 consumption" despite his business remaining open; he said his bill rose roughly $480 and that online payment options now include a $2 service fee. Harmon asked for clearer billing detail and an in-person cash payment option that he said used to be available at the district office.

Commissioners and staff stressed the board’s limited choice in the situation: District Administrator Rick Conrad and Commissioner Overton repeatedly said the increase is driven largely by federally directed work to address combined sewer overflows under the district’s long-term control plan. Overton noted the scale of the obligation while explaining the nonprofit line: "This is no small mandate from the federal government that we have no control over...we had to institute rate hikes," he said, and described the nonprofit line as an attempt to place churches and charities in a more appropriate fee category.

Staff also noted an appeals process is in place for customers who believe their classification or bill is incorrect; the board indicated the resolution introduction will be followed by a public hearing and formal adoption process. The resolution was introduced and seconded; the board voted in favor of introduction.

The board did not set a final adoption date at the Feb. 5 meeting. Legal review and public notice for a future hearing were assigned to the district’s general counsel.