Franklin council adopts revised sewer-rate ordinance after Paris Estates public comment
Summary
The City Council on Jan. 22 approved Ordinance 2024-12, updating sewer-user definitions and rates and offering unmetered customers the option to install approved flow meters. Paris Estates resident Georgiana Haldim urged meter access; council and staff said meters are owned by Indiana American Water and must be installed/approved by residents.
Franklin City Council voted Jan. 22 to adopt Ordinance 2024-12, which revises sewer billing definitions and adjusts monthly rates for unmetered and new residential sewer customers.
The mayor introduced the ordinance, noting it had been introduced Dec. 2 and tabled Dec. 16. Joanna Tennell presented staff changes that add clearer definitions for "new residential user," a "metered user with a six-month average," and "unmetered user," and separate single-family (Class 2) from commercial classes. Tennell said the city uses a 6,300-gallon baseline for new residential calculations but staff reviewed similar neighborhoods and proposed a 5,000-gallon benchmark for some unmetered comparisons. Under the adopted language, new residential users remain at $78.76 per month while non-new unmetered Class 2 users are set at $64.78 per month. Tennell also said flow meters remain an option for customers who can demonstrate materially lower usage, and she clarified that approved meter location is at the interior point where the water supply enters the structure.
During the public hearing, Paris Estates resident Georgiana Haldim said she typically uses about 3,000 gallons and asked whether the city would purchase meters for low-usage residents so they would not pay a flat unmetered charge. Mayor responded that Franklin does not own the water meters; Indiana American Water owns the meters and residents interested in metering should contact the water company or install a city-approved meter at their own cost. Staff added that the city will approve meter types if a resident’s plumber installs a qualified device that the sewer department can read remotely.
Councilmembers and staff framed the change as a balance between fairness to low-usage households and funding a needed sewer plant project; the mayor noted the city is preparing to build a new sewer plant and emphasized infrastructure costs as a driver of rate adjustments. After no further questions, the council moved and adopted Ordinance 2024-12 by voice vote.
The ordinance was introduced with a public hearing and approved the same night. Next procedural steps are implementation of the ordinance language and processing any resident meter approvals under the flow-meter option.
