The Union-Rome Sewer Advisory Board will continue working with Lawrence County commissioners to find a solution for ongoing revenue problems generated by delinquent bills.

Wednesday, March 22, 2000

The Union-Rome Sewer Advisory Board will continue working with Lawrence County commissioners to find a solution for ongoing revenue problems generated by delinquent bills.

With the most recent estimate, unpaid sewer bills totaled nearly $100,000, leaving the district with a continuously depleting carry-over balance, sewer district superintendent Tim Porter said.

This could mean that the district will have to consider rate increases, new fees or other alternate ways to offset the costs left by residents who refuse to pay their sewer fees, board members said at a special meeting Monday night at Fairland High School.

"At least four different parcels have heavy delinquencies against them and some of those have more than one unit," said deputy auditor Chris Kline.

A recent court decision –  one which advisory board members called into question against the Ohio Revised Code Monday –  allowed one of the delinquent property owners to separate the property taxes from the assessments against the property, Kline explained.

This decision, made in Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas by Judge W. Richard Walton, is one that should be appealed, commissioner Bruce Trent told board members.

"I’m going to ask for a case review of this particular case," Trent said. "I don’t see how this could have gone to court without the commissioners being present or at least having a legal representative there. We certainly wouldn’t have supported that decision and, pending the outcome of a review, we would try to appeal this decision."

The court decision isn’t the only problem facing the sewer district, board member Mike Finley pointed out.

"We’re at the point now where we have to do something," Finley said. "I’m totally against raising rates, but I don’t see what choice we have, other than a $10 fee for vacated property. We’ve got to come up with some answers now because we’ve been in this situation for a year and a half and we’re not getting anything accomplished."

Board members agreed to meet with commissioners again to ask for permission for possible solutions, but nothing definitive has yet been decided.

For now, Porter said the estimated delinquencies from the sewer offices, which differs slightly from those estimated at the auditor’s office because they are cleared from the sewer books once they are turned in, were up to about $93,000 from September to present.

The dire financial situation leaves little doubt that either income increases or the district is in trouble, Porter said.

"We should be able to get through this year and be in the black," Porter said. "But, unless they do something to generate more revenues or put penalties onto the delinquencies to make the people pay the bills, I don’t know what we will do."

As the income dwindles year-to-year, the total creeps closer to expenditures, he added.

"They either have to make them pay, raise rates or find one of several different alternatives," he said. "It’s going to be close this year as it is."