Selling the MUA would mean the end of affordable township sewer bills.
As of right now we pay $46.00 every three months for township sewer service and $93.00 every three months for county sewer service.
If the MUA were to be sold to the Mayor’s employer American Water our township sewer bill would become a monthly bill and that sewer bill would be calculated off of how much water you use each month to calculate your sewer bill price.
The bill would also include extra fees for perspective line work American Water may do in the future in Gloucester township, and the bill would include line work American Water may be financing in other townships such as Salem County NJ where American Water owns the lines and needs to repair them.
This means that Gloucester township residents would be paying for work in other townships through our monthly sewer bill since that is how American Water operates.
Our sewer bill would likely go from $15.00 a month to $65.00-$85.00 a month after the 5 year deal expires if it were to be sold to the Mayor’s employer American Water. Plus we would still be expected to pay our $93.00 bill to the CCMUA every three months.
As if that isn’t bad enough we would also loose the great service we receive from our township owned MUA.
Privatizing services doesn’t benefit citizens. If our sewer becomes privately owned by American Water we will be at the mercy of another company whose goal is to make more money for its shareholders each and every year.
The graph below was taken from the Inquirer and shows the rate before American Water aquired the PA towns and the rate after American Water acquired the PA towns. The article where this graph was pulled can be viewed under the “American Water Press Coverage” tab above.
The image below is how the question will be worded on the November ballot.
