Common Council Tables Sewer Rates Increase to the Ire of Mayor

By Jose Hernandez

OSWEGO – Item 6, up for authorization during the Administrative Services meeting this week, would have seen an adjustment to flat and metered sewer rates. The common council felt they were not given sufficient time to review the adjustments and chose to return to the matter at the next committee meeting, scheduled for March 2nd.

The council believes the rate increase may be too reactionary and will not provide a long-term solution and instead hopes to identify a different approach to adjusting sewer rates.

The adjustments would be rate increases, but they would come after 3 years of decreases.

Mayor Robert Corradino spoke before the council voted. Though conceding that the decision to raise the rates was the council’s to decide, he feels that the mayor is a part of the process.

“One of my responsibilities is to continually evaluate how we can improve operational efficiency, reduce cost, and increase revenues,” said Corradino, “that work happens year-round, but it becomes especially focused when department heads and I decide the budget.”

Last year, the animal control director raised concerns that fees had not gone up in several years and should.

“After reviewing fees from other shelters, we developed a recommended pricing structure,” said Corradino. Corradino brought the changes to last year’s council, which approved them.

Citing this adjustment, Corradino believes the mayor’s office and city staff are qualified to make similar adjustments to sewer rates. He feels it is their role to provide the council with accurate information and a suggested path forward.

Corradino claims that city staff, auditors, and past administrations’ observations have informed the adjustments to the rates. As of now, sewer rates have not gone up. In fact, rates have consistently decreased since 2019.

The cited reason for the lack of increases was that millions in grant funding covered operational costs.

“Tonight’s recommendation reflects the professional judgement of city personnel, who monitor the city’s financial and operational needs,” said Corradino, “as has always been the case, it is now the council’s opportunity to determine whether this proposal is necessary.”

Corradino invited Dan Ramer, Chief Operator at the wastewater plant, to speak; Ramer supports increases.

Ramer said operational costs have been rising, noting that people are requiring more funding to stay in the wastewater field.

The wastewater plant is a required asset for the city and cannot be shut down. The equipment typically runs 24/7, which drives higher costs to keep the plant running. The plant is expected to continue operating alongside other projects that may be required, which could be costly.

“When the bonds come through, when the projects come through, a small project at a wastewater plant is millions of dollars; our recent upgrade of the eastside treatment plant was somewhere around $11 million dollars, a lot of it was grants and zero-interest loans,” said Ramer.

Ramer feels that rate cuts are always a problem. He said there is a gap between revenue and expenditures. The sudden drop in grant funding and rate reductions led to what Ramer calls a yo-yo effect, where the city is required to reach out to the public.

“Advance civilization cost money, waste water is one of those tools that we must take care of,” said Ramer, “what I’d like to see instead of the yo-yo is when you notice expenditures and expenses are pretty close, or maybe you’re building a little bit of a fund balance, you start to designate that fund balance for emergencies, for engineering fees, for all the things that don’t put a piece of equipment in the plant, and that absorbs the shock so the community doesn’t have to.”

Ramer would be fine with decreases if there were a company like Micron to help fund operational costs, but says such support is rare.

Councilor John Fizgibbons said salaries and benefits account for approximately 70% of the plant’s operating costs. Fizgibbons claims it won’t go down because humans are required to run the plant.

Fizgibbons believes constituents should be able to discuss why the essential service should rely on user fees.

“I think the yo-yo comes when you cut rates 3 times, then cry that you have no money. It’s unfair to this council and our constituents. We’d like to be a part of the process to build a plan,” said Fizgibbons, “this is a highly engaged group, looking for an outcome that can be fair and equitable to the constituent, but also thoughtful into the future.”

Many on the council feel they should have been given more time to review the plan, rather than being given a timeline to review and approve the mayor’s plan. The council’s consensus is that they want a better plan, not a fix they deem as a patch.

After further discussion, the council ultimately decided to table the item at the suggestion of Councilor Shane Thompson to allow more time to review the issue.

“I think a little extra time would be beneficial for us to examine what went on and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Councilor Bill Myer.

“I don’t think anyone is opposed or unopposed at this time. I just think we need more time,” added Myer

The mayor took the stand before the vote, saying, “Maybe I’m taking this a little too personally because I was on the council and I’ve been in city government for 11 years, I take exception to councilor Fizgibbons remarks, it sounds like you’re painting a picture of, and forgive me for saying this, a picture of incompetence of the last 11 years.”

Corradino noted that the previous mayor and the 2015 council handled prior rate increases successfully, after the city needed $88 million for a project to separate water pipes.

“They ran the number, they raised it $275 total water and sewer, under the premise that it would be over an $80 million project. As it turned out, we completed it in less time and under $60 million. That didn’t happen by luck, Mayor Barlow and the council worked hand in hand to make sure the project moved forward, and we used every opportunity to save money,” said Corradino

Corradino said the previous rate increase resulted from the council’s not knowing it could obtain grants in 2015. He claims Barlow made calls at the state and federal levels, discovering they could obtain grants, and the council went to work obtaining them.

Corradino believes the current council is discrediting past mayors and councils that worked on sewer rate increases, and he repeats that he feels the lack of faith in the proposal to raise rates might be personal, saying the previous mayors and councils were not asleep.

Councilor Kennedy stated after that they are hoping to just make the best-informed decision, trying to convey that the vote was not personal, but an attempt to make sure that the decision made is the best informed.

The item was officially tabled and is scheduled to be talked about again on March 2nd.

Print this entry