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Dear Nutley Resident,

We are writing to inform you about an important change to our township's sewer system funding, which will take effect on July 1, 2024. The Township of Nutley will establish the Nutley Sewer Utility, which will be combined with the current Nutley Water Utility. This integration aims to provide a more fair and equitable mechanism for property owners to pay for the cost of wastewater treatment and the maintenance and improvement of our sewer infrastructure.

WHY THE CHANGE?

Under the existing system, all residential and commercial property owners in Nutley contribute a fixed percentage (9.3%) of their property's assessed value towards the sewer system, regardless of their water consumption and wastewater generation. While researching options, we found that other Essex County and New Jersey municipalities already bill their sewer charges based on consumption rather than including it as part of the assessed property value. The new Sewer Utility aims to address this inequity by basing your sewer cost on actual water usage, ensuring that those who generate more wastewater pay a more proportionate share of the system's expenses.

Nutley's sewer infrastructure consists of hundreds of miles of underground pipes carrying wastewater to the Passaic Valley Sewage Commission (PVSC) treatment plant in Newark. Additionally, the township maintains a sewer lift station in the southwest section of town to facilitate the movement of sewage from lower to higher elevations due to the area's topography.

Going forward, we expect that the costs to pay PVSC to take and treat our sewage as well as the cost to maintain and improve our sewer infrastructure, which is over 100 years old, will continue to rise. For this reason, the Township looked to establish a more equitable way to fund the sewer system.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?

• UPDATED CHARGES BASED ON WATER CONSUMPTION: As more fully detailed below, beginning July 1, 2024, the cost of the sewer system will be removed from the tax bill and each property owner will receive in their water bill a separate charge for sewage usage. The new sewer charge will be issued quarterly and be based on actual water supplied to the property determined by meter readings (water in—water out). Where meter readings cannot determine water usage, the charge will be estimated using industry-standard engineering methods. The rates have been calculated to ensure fairness.
  
  
• EQUITY FOR ALL PROPERTY OWNERS: The new sewer charge is intended to be equitable, ensuring that all property owners contribute fairly based on their actual water usage. Therefore, those who consume more water that discharges into the sewer system will pay more than those who consume less.
  
  
• TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY: The revenue generated from these charges will be dedicated solely to sewer-related expenses. This ensures that funds are used specifically for maintaining and improving our sewer systems.
  
  

NEW SEWER CHARGES BREAKDOWN:

Charges will be calculated based on water consumption as follows:

• RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES:
  • $53.00 for up to 1,000 cu. ft. (7,480 gallons)
  • $26.50 for each additional prorated 500 cu. ft. (3,740 gallons)
  • $5.76 Improvement charge
    
    
• COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES:
  • $105.00 for up to 1,000 cu. ft. (7,480 gallons)
  • $52.50 for each additional prorated 500 cu. ft. (3,740 gallons)
  • $10.00 Improvement charge