BASA customers to see rate hike
BUTLER TWP — Customers of the Butler Area Sewer Authority will have to pony up another $60 per year for sewer service starting next month.
The BASA board of directors voted at their Tuesday meeting to approve the rate increase.
Duane McKee, BASA executive director, said customers will pay an additional $15 per quarter for their sewer service.
Residential bills will rise from $114 per quarter to $129.
He said the increase was necessary to fund capital projects.
The main ongoing project at the sewer authority is the work involved in the 2019 corrective action plan mandated by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The corrective action plan is the result of continual overflow of sewage at the Brewster Road pump station, which has been an ongoing problem for neighbors in that area.
McKee said the last rate increase took effect in April 2020.
Also at the meeting, the board voted to extend the authority’s confidentiality agreement with Pennsylvania-American Water Company for 30 days.
The authority, Butler City Council and Butler Township commissioners approved a confidentiality agreement with Pennsylvania-American in December by a vote of 3-2.
The agreement gives PAWC the exclusive right to assess the value of the system and assets and prohibits members of the BASA board, city council and township commissioners from disclosing the value determined by PAWC.
McKee said he expects a decision on selling the authority to Penn American by July 31, when the agreement extension expires.
Other companies are interested in buying the authority as well.
Logan Turk of NextEra Water of Florida told the board during the meeting’s public comment session that Towamencin Township in Montgomery County, near Philadelphia, approved NextEra as its sewer services provider.
Turk said NextEra’s bid was 25% higher than Pennsylvania-American Water’s bid.
He did not elaborate on his comments.
Regarding a vote by Center Township supervisors June 8 to write the state Public Utilities Commission objecting to the sale to Penn American, McKee said he has not had a letter from Center Township since 2020.
Neither Center Township nor East Butler have representatives on the five-person authority board, although many residents in those municipalities use BASA for sewer service.
McKee said due to the way the authority was structured when it began in 1962, he cannot add seats to the board of directors.
He said Center Township in 1974 asked BASA to take over all sewer lines in the township and provide sewer service to residents and businesses.
