Vineland Council adopts water-rate ordinance after residents press concerns about recovery charge and data-center use

The Vineland City Council on June 23 adopted Ordinance 2026-42, amending chapters of the city's code governing water and sewer utility rates, after a public hearing that focused on how the change would affect residential customers and how the city would handle a large water request from a proposed data center.

At public comment, Haley Purich, who identified herself as a Vineland resident and tenant attorney, said the ordinance would remove an existing cap of about $0.44 per 1,000 gallons and allow the city to increase per-gallon recovery charges "by whatever amount is deemed necessary to cover the increased operational cost." She argued that, as written, those increases would be applied evenly to all consumers even when the costs are driven by very large industrial users, calling for separate industrial/commercial and residential classes so residents do not shoulder infrastructure costs.

"These industrial users should be paying their fair share," Purich said. "I implore our council to vote no on the ordinance today and to seriously consider amending our municipal code." She also cited regional drought and concerns about drawing from the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer.

Matt Williams, a resident who spoke later, said he had discussed the change with the utility director and the city solicitor and remained concerned about whether infrastructure upgrades tied to high-volume users would be borne by ratepayers. He urged the council to adopt strict protections for average ratepayers.

City officials and the utility director responded at the meeting, saying the costs associated with infrastructure are covered through connection fees calculated from projected water use and a three-year look-back; connection fees, the director said, are charged to new large users to cover upgrades rather than being passed on to existing residents. In response to questions about the recovery-cost adjustment, a city official said, "The recovery cost will be spread evenly across everything. It's not based upon one using more than the other." The director also said the data center mentioned did not yet take water from the city and that recovery charges are intended to cover variable operating costs such as added pumping, chemicals and energy when usage patterns change.

Members of the public and multiple speakers repeatedly referenced a large water request tied to a data center, often cited in testimony as "2.2 million gallons per day." City officials acknowledged the request in discussion and said the connection-fee formula and monitoring mechanisms are designed to capture actual usage and adjust fees based on audited use.

Council moved, seconded and adopted Ordinance 2026-42 on final reading with unanimous recorded votes of the five members present.

The ordinance amends prior ordinances and code provisions governing water/sewer utility rates; the council asked staff to continue reviewing rate structures and study whether separate rate classes or other protections are appropriate. No additional ordinance language amendments were made on the floor at the June 23 meeting.