Proposed budget keeps water, sewer rates unchanged for Municipal Authority of Westmoreland customers

Water and sewer rates for customers of the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County will remain the same for a second consecutive year.

The authority’s preliminary 2020-21 budget, unveiled Wednesday, includes no rate changes and carries a $5 million cut in projected revenues, officials said. Board members are expected to approve the new $105 million budget in January. The fiscal year starts April 1.

“All of our projects are on budget and on time,” said Randy Roadman, authority board chairman. “We will be having a balanced budget and no rate increases for a period of time.”

A second year of stagnant rates comes on the heels of a three-year period where water customers saw bills increase by 39% through annual hikes officials said were needed to ensure the continued upgrades to the authority’s aging water delivery system.

Increased water rates were blamed on revenue shortfalls as well as the need to repay a $150 million loan, taken out in 2016, to fund future system upgrades through 2022.

The authority’s 121,000 water customers in five counties on average pay about $46 a month for service. The authority has customers in Westmoreland, Allegheny, Fayette, Armstrong and Indiana counties. The authority has 26,000 sewer customers.

The proposed budget includes $4 million earmarked for other capital projects not part of the system upgrades funded through the 2016 loan.

“Things are still happening even though we’re not raising rates,” Roadman said.

The budget anticipates a continued reduction in revenues generated by royalties the authority earns through the sale of natural gas produced by wells drilled on its property by private energy companies, said Brian Hohman, authority business manager.

Officials originally expected to receive up to $8 million this year from gas royalties, but industry declines saw that number reduced to about $3 million. Estimates suggest the authority will receive about $2.5 million in royalties during the new fiscal year, Hohman said.

“It’s money we’re not counting on to balance the budget. That money is used to pay for capital improvements and not operations,” Hohman said.