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Asbury Park council adopts higher sewer connection fees after auditor recommendation
Summary
After a formal public hearing, the Asbury Park City Council voted to adopt increased sewer connection fees across three user classes following an auditor’s recomputation and recommendation; the public offered no comments during the hearing.
The Asbury Park City Council adopted a new schedule of sewer connection fees on a unanimous vote after hearing testimony from the city’s auditor, who recommended higher rates to allocate past capital costs to new users.
David Ganon, a certified public accountant and partner at PK Davis, summarized the firm’s recomputation and told the council the purpose of a connection fee is to ensure "new users of the connection of of the system [are] on the same playing field as the prior users." Ganon described three user classes and recited prior and proposed fees.
According to Ganon’s testimony, the prior connection fees were computed as $7,171 per residential unit, $3,585.50 per hotel/motel guest room, and $35 per gallon per day for non-residential customers. Ganon recommended increases to $7,598 per residential unit, $3,799 per guest room, and $38 per gallon per day for non-residential customers, with a stated minimum non-residential fee of $7,000. He also testified that the proposed amounts are uniform within each class and comply with applicable statutory requirements.
Mayor Moore opened and closed the statutorily required public hearing on the matter; no members of the public spoke. Council members moved and seconded adoption of Resolution 2025504, "establishing a new sewer rate schedule connection fees for the city of Asbury Park, New Jersey," and the motion passed on a unanimous roll-call vote.
The hearing record shows the auditor was sworn and provided his professional credentials; council members asked no follow-up questions during the presentation. The ordinance and resolution language cited state statute and city code procedures for public hearings and fee adoption as part of the record.
What happens next: The new connection fees were authorized to be applied to new customers connecting to the city sewage system as adopted in Resolution 2025504. The council did not record any amendments to the auditor’s recommended figures during the meeting.
