At first, it seemed like a windfall. The $75.1 million sale of Limerick Township’s sewer system to Aqua PA was initially proposed as the reason taxes would remain the same for the next 30 years. But, that’s not entirely the whole picture.

The deal to sell the system includes a rate freeze for the next three years. But after the three-year rate freeze expires, a hike of as much as 84 percent in the base rate of Limerick sewer bills is possible public records indicate, writes Evan Brandt in the Pottstown Mercury.

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The current base rate of $38 could jump to $70 when the rate freeze enacted as a condition of the sale expires, according to documents filed as the sale was being considered by the Public Utility Commission.

That would push the annual base rate for sewer service up by $384 — from $456 per year to $840, according to figures contained in the public documents related to the sale examined by Digital First Media.

The township has not increased the sewer base rate since 2010, Township Supervisor Dan Kerr confirmed.  “The supervisors decided to increase taxes rather than the sewer rate in an effort to spare seniors who generally don’t use much more water than the base rate covers,” he said.

The “base rate” is the amount charged customers no matter how much water they use. The remainder of the bill is dependent on how much water a customer uses.

To read the complete story click here.

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