Burton council hears higher legal costs as sewer and water enforcement rises

Finance Chair Smith told the Burton City Council at a budget workshop that there are “no significant changes” to sewer revenues but that legal costs for the sewer department are rising because the city has increased enforcement of illegal connections.

The matter matters because staff said the department is taking more enforcement actions for sump pumps and cross connections that can require court appearances, and those efforts are driving higher legal expenditures in the sewer budget. Council members pressed staff on the Fourth Amendment implications of household inspections and asked for detail on how the water fund’s reported balance is composed.

“Okay. Today, we're gonna be discussing sewer, water, related capital improvements for water and sewer, governmental building needs, motor pool,” Finance Chair Smith said as the meeting moved into budget items. City staff later told the council, “So we do we're doing a lot of, more inspection enforcement for some pumps and cross connections and stuff like that. And, we end up at court a lot with it.”

Staff characterized the enforcement as largely directed at illegal hookups that increase the county treatment load: “If you're tapped into it illegally, now you have a right to inspect,” a staff member said during debate about inspection authority. Several council members objected to on-site entry without court permission, citing Fourth Amendment concerns. One councilmember said a homeowner could lawfully challenge a forced inspection in court; another said state and county rules require the city to pursue enforcement and that the city follows those rules.

On revenues, staff noted a 4% increase in projected water usage fees tied to new homes built over the past two years and said the Amy Street special assessment remains in place with “4 more years.” Staff also explained the large water fund balance: “That balance ... of the 27,347,000, that is comprised of all of our combined assets for the water department, which cash on hand, credit card transactions, accounts receivable, the parts inventory, land and infrastructure improvements,” a staff member said. Staff confirmed capital assets such as pipes in the ground (Atherton Road water-main project, phase 1) are included in that number and are depreciated.

Council members asked about past uses of federal ARPA funds for water projects. Staff said ARPA money was used at one stage to reimburse personnel costs and then was moved back into the general fund and later used for waterline work; staff cited sums in the discussion ($748,000 and $517,991 were mentioned in the workshop) as part of the reimbursement and accounting explanation.

No formal changes to the enforcement policy were adopted at the workshop. Council members and staff agreed the legal questions may require further review; one councilmember said the issue could be litigated if a homeowner challenged an inspection. Staff noted that enforcement work has reduced countywide treatment burden and that failing to act could lead to surcharges shared by all ratepayers.

The council planned to continue budget topics at the next workshop, where information technology and senior center items are scheduled.