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Residents press council on high sewer bills and nonprofit funding strains
Summary
During public comment, a landlord and tenants said recent Sewer Authority billing and stormwater proposals threaten affordability; East Suburban Citizen Advocacy said it lost 25% of funding in 2025 while caseloads rose 40%, and credited a local landlord with halving the nonprofit's rent.
Multiple public commenters used the meeting’s community input period to press council about utility costs and nonprofit funding.
A property owner (identified in the transcript variously as Bill Ott/Odd) said he received a registered letter from the Sewer Authority charging $19,108 for a single property, alleging the authority required payment for additional taps/EDUs because multiple occupants are listed. The owner said the demand was disproportionate to the building’s actual water usage and said many long-time residents and renters are struggling with rising taxes and costs in Murrysville. Council did not resolve that specific billing claim during the meeting.
Tara Stanton, fundraising and marketing associate for East Suburban Citizen Advocacy (ECSA), told council the nonprofit has operated in Murrysville since 1988 and is facing severe financial strain: she reported a roughly 25% funding loss in 2025 and a caseload increase of about 40% year to date. Stanton said ECSA provides free advocacy for individuals with developmental disabilities in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties and thanked their landlord (identified in the transcript as Bill) for reducing rent by half, a measure that directly helped the organization continue services.
Council and staff acknowledged the nonprofit’s challenges. The sewer-billing complaint was raised as a public-comment concern; staff did not provide a detailed resolution at the meeting and indicated the issue with sewer authority billing would need to be addressed with the Sewer Authority or through follow-up communication.
Speakers urged clearer communication to ratepayers about credits and charges tied to any new stormwater fee or Sewer Authority actions and asked council to consider affordability implications for nonprofit operators and long-term residents.
