BETHEL — Facing increasing costs and objections from the owners of older apartment buildings, Bethel selectmen have voted to recommend a new sewer fees rate structure that would shift some of the increased costs to single-family homes with average water usage.

A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for Jan. 25.

Two years ago the town attempted to update its billing practices and charge older apartments and other older dwelling units individually rather than by building. It would have added 140 more units to bill.

But with a definition for “dwelling unit” that town officials acknowledged was unclear, some of the property owners affected by the billing updates objected, arguing that it should also be applied to such buildings as bed and breakfasts and other lodging places, as well as dormitory rooms.

The owners said the rate structure was unfair and bills should simply be based on volume of water used, rather than on a combination of a minimum charge and additional volume used.

Selectmen then voted to suspend the new billing practice until Dec. 31 of this year, in order for a committee to study the problem and come up with a better solution.

Separately, in October, voters rejected a proposed new definition for “dwelling unit” because many felt it was not broad enough to include such places as lodging units and dormitories.

The fiscal year 2015 budget for the Waste Water Treatment Plant was $386,840.

The rate structure in effect for that budget charged a minimum quarterly fee of $121 for 1,500 cubic feet of minimum usage, even though some users may use significantly less. Usage above that minimum is billed at just over .08 cents a cubic foot.

The average usage by single-family residences in Bethel is 900 cubic feet per year, according to town officials.

Samples of annual total costs under the current rates were provided by the committee Monday. A residence with the average annual usage of 900 cubic feet pays about $506 a year; a residence with average usage of 1,500 cubic feet pays about $970.

Had the new billing practice not been suspended and 140 other units been added for billing, a residential customer from that group with three additional units in a building would have paid $1,876.

The approved fiscal year 2016 Waste Water Treatment Plant budget is $476,380, beginning July 1 of this year, about $89,000 more than last year.

Under the new proposed rate structure, the minimum fee would change, to be based on 500 cubic feet of usage. There would be a quarterly “base pipe fee” of $100. Buildings with additional units would have an “additional unit fee” of $50 per unit. A “ready to serve” fee of $10 would be applied to hookups not currently being used.

For use over the minimum charges, the per cubic foot assessment would rise to .12 cents.

As a result, for the new budget year, a residence using 900 cubic feet annually would pay about $592, up $85; one using 1,500 cubic feet would pay $880, down $90; and the residential/additional units building would pay $1,384, down $493.

Resident Bud Kulik said of the proposal, “This is all well and good for the apartment owners, but mom and pop, two people living in a house in town, get to augment the apartment owners. So let’s put the screws to mom and pop again here.”

Selectman Peter Southam served on the fees committee. The proposal, he acknowledged, “is a concession to people with multiple units. It puts the burden onto single-family homes. It’s a matter of who you think should be paying. You’re asking the residents to subsidize the businesses. The people who can most easily change their income as a result of this are the people who can charge more rent.”

“People can’t pay their rent now,” objected multi-unit owner Mark Bennett. He asked why the rates could not be set based on usage alone. (The figures listed above would be $560, $933 and $747, respectively, under such a scenario.) Southam said that while that might be a fair approach, “one reason we didn’t want to go there is that one of the problems of the treatment plant is not enough customers, not enough volume. Rewarding people for reducing their output would be counterproductive. It doesn’t change the cost of the sewer treatment plant.”

He said the plan the selectmen will recommend “moves us closer to usage.”

Southam added that he believes Gould Academy and the Bethel Inn would pay significantly more under the proposal.

He said the cost per cubic foot is not what is driving the cost of the plant. “It’s the debt service and a whole lot of fixed costs,” said Southam.

The board voted unanimously to support the proposal.

The public hearing on Jan. 25 will begin at 7 p.m. at the Town Office. After receiving input, the board will decide what the rate structure will be. It will go into effect for billing that starts the quarter beginning Jan. 1.

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