Note: The cost per 1,000 gallons used was incorrect in the original story. The corrected figures appear here.

Harrison residents will not be paying more in property taxes in 2024 but will see an increase in sewage fees.

Sewage fees will rise by $20 per quarter, from $1.25 per 1,000 gallons to $1.45 per 1,000, said Amy Rockwell, township manager.

The fee increase is in conjunction with the commissioners approving a change in the ordinance establishing the sewage fees.

That ordinance went from being titled the “EPA Mandate Sewer Usage Fee” to being the “Sewer Rental Charge” because of the change.

Solicitor Emily Mueller said the title change, while it seems innocuous, does make a difference.

In the old ordinance approved in 2011, the fee was established under a consent order between the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Upper Allegheny Valley Joint Sanitary Authority, of which Harrison is a member.

Mueller said that consent decree was focused on making mandatory repairs throughout the system to fix infiltration and inflow problems that result in abnormal sewage flows into the treatment plant during heavy rain.

As a result, the money from the fees was restricted to those types of repairs, she said.

Changing the ordinance to a plain sewer rental charge removes that restriction.

“Now, they (the township) can use it for all kinds of maintenance and sewer work,” Mueller said. “It’s nothing different than what you see in surrounding municipalities.”

Rockwell said that is particularly important because the system is old, and deteriorating pipes need to be upgraded. She said the change will allow the township to pay for “bursting” work in which new pipe is pushed into the line to replace the old ones, for example.

She said the increase is warranted because the fee has been unchanged since the ordinance was first passed, and costs have increased a lot since then. Rockwell said most of the other authority members had already done that.

Meanwhile, the township commissioners voted to approve the $7.8 million budget that holds the tax rate at 5.1 mills.

However, Rockwell said there are some specific user-type fee increases.

They include a boost in the cost for dye testing from $25 to $50; an increase of $15 in the charge for the township providing lien letters on property, making that cost $30; and a rise in the application for a zoning hearing board hearing from $400 to $500.

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