Notice to Sewer and Water
Customers
Sewer and water payments should be mailed or brought to the
Tax Office at City
Hall. The
Water Department does not accept payments at its office.
Sewer Utility Billing
Sewer utility billing is done quarterly; you will receive a bill around the
first of March, June, September, and December. Bills are payable by the last day
of each of those months.
Interest is charged on unpaid balances.
The money raised by sewer billing funds the operation of the Water
Pollution Control Facility (Waste Water Treatment Plant). As an enterprise
fund the facility is self funded. The money you pay for sewer billing is the
money the plant operates on; no tax money is used.
Prior to 1989 most of the sewer collection system was combined, wastewater
and storm drains, and 750 million gallons of untreated waste was discharged into
the Penobscot River. In 1989 the Federal EPA started to enforce new regulations
passed by, but not funded by the US Congress. In 1990 the City began to
assess which areas needed the most action to remedy the situation, and
construction as started to separate the storm water from the sewerage system. At
the same time the capacity of the treatment plant was enlarged. The results were
immediate, but the EPA and the State Department of Environmental Protection were
still not satisfied, and the City was forced into an agreement for more
construction which is still being carried out, the work is scheduled to be
completed in 2006. During all of this time the City and the sewer users have had
to pay the bill. Today the Brewer Water Pollution Control Facility is
considered, industry wide, to be one of the best in New England.
As part of the City of Brewer infrastructure improvement and continued
compliance with Maine DEP Combined Sewer Outflow (CSO), the waste treatment
system is again facing increased cost, resulting in necessary rate adjustments.
These adjustments are being held to a minimum and the long term prospective is
for rate stabilization to begin in the near future.
The minimum sewer bill is
for 1000 cubic feet. Rates are adjusted each fiscal year which
begins July 1st.
The Sewer utility bill is mailed along with the Water bill; the City uses the
meter readings provided by the Brewer Water District to compute the bills.
Sewer bills unpaid after the due date are subject to lien in the same manner
as unpaid real estate taxes. The major difference being that the lien goes with
the property, so if you have renters and the bills are unpaid, the lien is filed
on the homeowner. One way to prevent this is for the homeowner to have all
billings in your name and increase the amount of rent charged. Starting with
the March 2000 billing period, liens will be filed each quarter, the
"courtesy" letter will no longer be sent out. The only notice
you will receive before the lien process begins is the late notice (red, white,
and blue).
There is a process for residential customers to apply for abatement
for water used for lawns, gardens or swimming pools (if the water does not go
down the drain).
If you keep the faucet running while brushing your teeth, you will use six
gallons of water.
Remember, Dripping Faucets, and Running Toilets are Very
Expensive.
Conserving
Our Water - Getting into the Habit!
If you have any other
questions, please call
Ken Locke at 989-5417 |
