Getting a screwing from Borough -- Surprise Sewer Tax

[Heavyopp 167]

This has been bothering me for 2 weeks now,  need some opinions -- tell me if I'm mad at nothing or should this be taken further

 

 

I live in Middlesex borough been a resident for 20 years -- Wednesday Dec 7th I get a letter in the mail from Middlesex Borough -- To my surprise it's a sewer usage bill --  The 1st one in 2 decades -- Billing period Jan 1, 2015 to Dec 31, 2015

 

There is only 1 page of paper in this envelope -- Says Sewer Bill -- Gives my usage, and says I owe 563.00  Due Dec 31 2016 - It also says to appeal contact...   nothing else

 

That night I look up the town ordinances -- Nothing new -- same sewer ordinance last edited 2013  

 

Next day I call the town, They are swamped with calls about this new bill -- No answers, no appeal process given, nothing, Like it was a surprise to the women who work at the borough

 

 

December 13 a letter finally comes, with a partial explanation of what is going on -- time for me to investigate 

 

For all of time middlesex has had no sewer charges for residential properties who consumed less that 75,000 gallons of water per quarter -- thats 300,000 gallons a year -- a huge amount of water -- and how it's always been as long as I have been alive

 

March 29, 2016 the borough council holds a special meeting -- decides to change the maximum you can use before being charged  to 120,000 gallons a year -- New ordinance goes into law in early april -- the new ordinance says that you will be billed based on your previous years water usage as reported by the water company -- best I can tell -- this ordinance is posted on the borough website sometime after Dec 10, 2016

 

 

So here is what gets me going -- I'm pretty sure what they did is not legal -- and its certainly rotten

 

 

Back in 2015, I was allowed to use 300,000 gallons of water before being charged an extra sewer usage fee -- They told me I could, and this is how it's been forever

 

On march 29th 2016 they changed the rules -- but they changed them for 2015 --  they decided that if you used over 120,000 gallons in 2015 you where now going to be charged a sewer use bill  -- How is this legal?  I followed the rules for 2015 and am now being penalized for it

 

They also demand payment by Dec 31 2016 -- The newly posted ordinance clearly states that billing dates will be May 1st and Nov 1st of each year

 

This can't be legal -- I'm so pissed I can't even think rationally about it, and I certainly can't write about what is going thru my head here on this forum

 

 

I hope you guys can understand this,  Talk to me,  Am I crazy for being mad -- should I fight?  Go to court -- write the newspapers, 101.5???

 

 

Has anyone been through something like this with their town? Results?  Thoughts?

 

Can you beat a local government in court?  Is it worth it? 

 

Help!!!   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Purple Patrick 638]

Write your legislator and try and contact Bill Spadea on 101.5. If there is an injustice he will at least call out the people responsible

 

this signature exceeds the 15 character capacity count

[Heavyopp 167]

I can't imagine the legislators siding with us common folk... but I guess it's worth a shot

 

Bill Spadea -- the morning guy -- that definitely might be worth something

[70gto 142]

Newspaper and 101.5 and vocalize at town hall meeting with lots of similair pissed off people in the audience. The only way to get through to these people is to call them out publically and often in front of an audience.  (town hall meeting ) use common sense and power in numbers.

[maintenanceguy 510]

Interesting that the town held off sending bills until after the election.  I'm guessing your town council is hoping everyone will forget by the next election.   Get a bunch of neighbors together and rent a billboard listing the council members who voted for this.  

 

Any way to do a recall in your town?   A couple of dozen people calling the town clerk to inquire about the recall process might make the council nervous enough to change something.

 

But no matter what you do, somebody's going to get screwed.  The town has obviously spent beyond it's means and needs more money.  They'll find a way to get it out of some group of residents even if it isn't you.

[maintenanceguy 510]

Get on the radio and in the paper and mention the date of the next council meeting.  Fill the building with people waiting in line to speak.   Make sure every person there mentions that they will be remembering the council members in the next election. 

 

Run your own campaign on a platform of repealing the sewer tax.

[Handyman 5,682]

You're dorked. Nothing is illegal to the government. Even if it is technically illegal, they will just pass a law making it legal.

 

That's a lot of money for poop. Bend over and take it like a man. The oxygen tax will be next.

[10X 3,296]

Is the council required to have a public comment period before passing an ordinance or changing a tax rate?   If so, did they meet that requirement?   Did they meet every detail of that requirement?

 

Occasionally, something like this gets thrown out over a procedural issue.   It's worth looking into.

[Malsua 1,422]

I would do everything I could to find out who was behind it and make sure they get pushed out next time.

 

Then I would probably add my own usage gauge and make sure not to use 328 gallons of water per day. 

 

When I was 18, my father remarried and 4 "city people" moved into our 1860s farmhouse.   Within a month, they dried up the well and wrecked the septic.  Seriously.

 

Don't run the water while you brush your teeth, don't run the shower for 10 minutes before you get in,  stop taking showers till the hot water runs out, etc. 

 

I live on a well and septic and I'll bet my wife and I use less than 50 gallons a day.

 

These are the reasons I despise government.  They can't keep their damn hands out of other people's pockets.    Get enough people together to scream at these people at meetings and maybe they'll wither under the light of scrutiny.

[myhatinthering 462]

Question is why, clearly needs money. Gotta love those school and municipal taxes

[Slab Sides 20]

I'll trade you that sewer bill for my three thousand dollar property tax increase.

[beachwhistle 28]

How to raise taxes with out raising taxes.

Take something included in your tax bill and separate it as a usage fee.

Sewer, garbage, water etc. are all targets.

The person you want to vote out will be sending around fliers at election time (paid for by you) claiming how he/she kept taxes low and most will have forgotten about that new "fee".

[1LtCAP 4,263]

1) sounds illegal, but i'm sure there's some little known technicality that lets them do this.

2) probably just another way around raising property taxes. they probably figure if they can't raise property, they'll just find a way to add a new tax(by adjusting usage lower) and use that money

[beachwhistle 28]

BTW the sewer usage fee is not technically part of your property tax since it's a "usage fee". If you complain about losing the deduction you'll be told that you're supposed to have been backing this out of your property taxes when claiming the deduction on your .

Clark went to this about 5 or 6 years ago and then Rahway (where I had a rental property).

[Heavyopp 167]

Rumor has it that Middlesex shares a main sewer line with Piscataway --  The piscataway line to the treatment center runs through Middlesex -- Middlesex also dumps their waste into that line because it's there --  It's rumored that piscataway sent a bill to middlesex for use of their sewer line on our land, which they've never done before -- Its something like this from what I understand

 

 

I didn't realize how much water I use --  Got billed for 170,000 gallons --  I added up my bills,  that is what went thru my water meter according to NJ american water -- certainly not went down the sanitary sewer --  Township doesn't even account for the water you drink let alone wash your car, water your lawn and garden... --  charged for every drop 

 

As soon as I got the bill I ordered a new shower head --  I have a tankless water heater here in the house -- We never run out of hot water and the shower time shows that -- 4 adults taking at least a 10 minute shower with a shower head putting out 5 maybe 7 gallons a minute --  thats a lot of shower water --  Unfortunately I didn't test the shower head before replacing it -- I'll see how the 2.5 gallon head effects my next water bill -- My guess is it's cut in half

 

Point is I could have done that a year ago, if the town just sent the letter about the new sewer tax back in april, when they adopted the new ordinance 

 

Rotten bastards -- every single council member voted yes on this -- It's in the minutes of the special meeting on March 29 2016 on the middlesex borough website -- Also rumored that the sewer movement was spearheaded by a local businessman -- a bar and restaurant owner in town -- He was tired of the businesses supporting the sewer costs alone --  my guess is that not many residents ever reached the 300,000 gallon requirement previously -- save the business, screw the residents

[siderman 1,138]

Thats a lot of water, i think. Just looked at my most recent bill and it averages about 22k gals. per qtr for the past yr so about 88K a yr, about half of yours. We too a family of four but daughter is part time resident but my son thinks shower time is an extended spa and uses way too much water. But I do not have a lawn irrigation system, do you?

[Edge 6]

I'm neither a lawyer or a Parlamentarian but IMHO notice should have been made to the residents that a motion was to be made to amend the language in the sewer/water usage billing process. Then there should have been two public readings where public comment would be accepted, then the vote taken by the town authority. They may have posted the info in an obscure place like the public notices in newspapers and the residents didn't catch it.........

[Howard 538]

This is how New Jermany works.  When I put my solar panels in back in 2005 they determined the maximum that I could install based on 125% of the PREVIOUS full years consumption.  Had I known that I might have decided to keeps lights on all day that year.

[Heavyopp 167]

I'm an irrigation contractor -- I do have an irrigation system -- but I rarely use it -- Hate the water bill --  I did have a spike in 2015 for sept/oct -- growing seed

 

I do agree I use a ton of water but never realized it till now --  a very generous shower head has to be the big culprit -- unless my meter is cheating me

 

 I also changed a pipe around for the kitchen sink -- took 90 seconds for hot water to get there -- now takes 30 seconds -- that should save a few gallons

[Heavyopp 167]

I'm neither a lawyer or a Parlamentarian but IMHO notice should have been made to the residents that a motion was to be made to amend the language in the sewer/water usage billing process. Then there should have been two public readings where public comment would be accepted, then the vote taken by the town authority. They may have posted the info in an obscure place like the public notices in newspapers and the residents didn't catch it.........

 

They made notice -- I'm sure of that -- just did it in a way that nobody noticed it so they wouldn't come to the meeting and fight them -- Ever read the legal notices section of the newspaper?

[Heavyopp 167]

We are friendly with some of the women who work in borough hall --  they didn't even know this was coming...

[DeerSlayer 241]

I pay $327 per quarter, every quarter since 2003 until 2023. That's just for sewer. Not to mention what I had to pay to hook up, when they brought them to my town. I have a well, they only charge commercial properties in my town by water usage.

[Mr.Stu 1,922]

"But the plans were on display…”

“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”

“That’s the display department.”

“With a flashlight.”

“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”

“So had the stairs.”

“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.'"

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)

[Heavyopp 167]

I pay $327 per quarter, every quarter since 2003 until 2023. That's just for sewer. Not to mention what I had to pay to hook up, when they brought them to my town. I have a well, they only charge commercial properties in my town by water usage.

 

 

 

They forced you to hook up -- couldn't keep the septic system? 

[Edge 6]

They made notice -- I'm sure of that -- just did it in a way that nobody noticed it so they wouldn't come to the meeting and fight them -- Ever read the legal notices section of the newspaper?

Never, that's why I posted what I did. They post the info where normal people never look....... Scumbags.....

[DeerSlayer 241]

They forced you to hook up -- couldn't keep the septic system?

It's state law. If sewers are available you MUST hook up. No choice in the matter.

[Heavyopp 167]

It's state law. If sewers are available you MUST hook up. No choice in the matter.

 

 

Interesting --  The house across the street from me is on septic -- Only one on the block -- sewer line runs right in front of the house 

[DeerSlayer 241]

Interesting -- The house across the street from me is on septic -- Only one on the block -- sewer line runs right in front of the house

They got away with it somehow. The town could force them to tie in if they knew about it.

[Howard 538]

It's state law. If sewers are available you MUST hook up. No choice in the matter.

Not always.  They put sewers in a part of Randolph a few years ago and the homes in one area were given a pass.  They were told if and when their septics failed they would have to hook up but they did not have to hookup right away.

[DeerSlayer 241]

Not always. They put sewers in a part of Randolph a few years ago and the homes in one area were given a pass. They were told if and when their septics failed they would have to hook up but they did not have to hookup right away.

The town can make special rules on distances from the system. Or if their system can't handle the additional load of a neighborhood, or even one house. Otherwise they have to connect as per 2.19.1 in the National Standard Plumbing code, as adopted by the NJ IRC. It's really rare that they do it though, usually there are some specific circumstances as to why they don't want that money from more homes.