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The Abington Citizens Network
where Abington, PA residents can share ideas and join forces to build a better community

Sewer Sale


    Please feel free to send your information to us  and please be sure to  tell us about any information you believe to be incorrect -  contact us


Townships throughout Montgomery  County have sold - or considered selling their systems,  much to the dismay of the taxpayers, who largely believe taxes/sewer fees  will go up if this happens - which oftne has been the case.  


      I  had 4 sources, as of 11-3-19 tell me Abington  Township was considering the sale of the sewer system  ---  figures were apparently tossed around  in some conversations .... .  Please be sure to note this  was never officially declared  and in fact was officially denied.  I have seen no documents for either argument . Our Wastewater Manager told me they would NOT be considering it . It is much more economical to run our own system.  Considering the sources that said they overheard discussions, I believe that it was "discussed", but that may be all there was to it -- just speculation. 

      On the other hand, it should be of concern to us all that in Abington we are paying to maintain our system well ( we  hope)  but simultaneously our water bills reflect the Aqua costs for all the failing systems where they are spreading hte costs out over the entire service area that includes us. 
 
      If you hear anything at all about this issue  the sooner you let the rest of us know, the better .  Many, many millions of dollars could be  at stake here over-all ---- via higher sewer and water costs for us individually,  while for the Commissioners, if we were to sell for $90M or similar, some huge part of that sale price would appear like a Christmas gift in their “spendable cash pile"

    The giant Aqua PA corporation, who is now is asking to mix sewer and water revenues to further hide transparency of costs,   our voices are already so tiny that people can’t even get their attention when  bills mysteriously double, as many recently did.  We simply have zero oversight of this process because we cannot get a webpage with a full and open discussion on our Township site about it . 

8-17-18  Aqua Pennsylvania, which filed for a 15.4 percent water rate increase on Aug. 17, has 450,000 customers.
            https://fusion.inquirer.com/philly/business/aqua-pa-water-rate-increase-puc-20180817.html
 

   
     
Cheltenham sold their sewer for $50 M  - had to pay $30 M toward the repairs of it.  Aqua will be paying $80 to 100M  in repairs to put it in shape, I understand. The  $20M  Cheltenham Commissioners had left over from the sale is simply 100 % up to the  Commissioners to decide how to spend.  There is no requirement that they return that $ to the taxpayers …. who are almost guaranteed to have  far higher bills in the future.  The Township officials said they might have gone bankrupt without the sale .  But in the end the residents still have to pay for water, and at least some of the repairs,  whether it belongs to Aqua or to Cheltenham …… they just have less control now.   For Aqua the benefit comes in being able to distribute their  costs, as mentioned above,  over a wider base. 

      As Aqua seeks to distribute out the cost of  paying for faulty systems like Cheltenham's,  there is no semblace of fairness. Our Wastewater manager could not tell me how Abington, who fully runs its own system, would be impacted in this effort by Aqua to distribute the  debt from the faulty systems being purchased over their entire service area.

)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

 A PRETTY SOUR HISTORY
2002 
2002 - Upper Dublin sold its sewer to  Bucks County Water and Sewer authority and has seen regular rate increases - (double digits  later in 2014 -2016 . It was kept artificially low for 12 years - that expired in 2014 .   2015 to 2016 they rose 19 % and were projected to go 14 % on topp of that in 2017
https://www.montgomerynews.com/amblergazette/news/sewer-rate-increase-in-upper-dublin-part-of-three-year-plan/article_3f3186ec-52f3-5c63-9ee8-b54577dd18bc.html

2012  

2012 An act  was passed that allows a utility to spread the acquisition costs to all its ratepayers across the state, & created an industry-friendly environment for private water utilities to expand their reach.

2016

2016  Act 12 passed - a  state Law  encouraged the consolidation of the smaller water and wastewater systems  under private ownership

2016 Springfield (Montco) also sold theirs to the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority
https://www.springfieldmontco.org/departments/building-zoning/sewer-related-rules-regulations /

(Later in 2018  The Inquirer wrote :   .  https://fusion.inquirer.com/philly/business/new-pennsylvania-law-private-water-sewer-acquisitions-aqua-pennsylvania-american-20180905.html   The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority in 2015 outbid private operators to acquire the sewer system in Springfield Township, Montgomery County, for $16.5 million. Springfield used the proceeds to pay for parks and a new municipal campus.
But the invoice came due this year when residential sewer bills jumped by 115 percent, matching the rates paid by other BCWSA customers.
"It was a sleight of hand, a tax increase by another name," said Jonathan Cobb, a Springfield commissioner who called the sewer-system sale a "shortsighted gimmick" when he won election in 2017. "I'd much rather have the asset under control of the township."

2017

4-5-17   Conshohocken's Sewer System Purchases West Conshohocken System:  The acquisition for $9.5 million expected in June or July  2017 will expand the Borough of Conshohocken's existing customer base of 3,100 by approximately 800 to 3,900 in all. The Conshohocken Borough Authority has kept rates flat for the last five years. Prior to a change in its rate structure in 2012, the Authority had not increased rates in 20 years. On average, customers pay approximately $370 per year for sewer service.

,https://patch.com/pennsylvania/plymouthwhitemarsh/conshohocken-borough-authority-buys-west-conshohocken-sewer-system?fbclid=IwAR0m3UOsXEEYyhLFNqngCqgbGiaswPDVddLrblh3zGn4RyK9GrxfDN4p1u8

2018


9-5-18
Pennsylvania American has 658,000 water and wastewater customers. Conshohocken  Borough Authority Bought West 
           
8-17-18  Aqua Pennsylvania, which
filed for a 15.4 percent water rate increase on Aug. 17, has 450,000 customers.
            https://fusion.inquirer.com/philly/business/aqua-pa-water-rate-increase-puc-20180817.html


2018  Limerick with 5400 customers faced an 84 % bill increase soon after selling  to Aqua, generating  $75.1M to pay for a new Township building and 2 Fire Stations  w/raising taxes ( the tax hike will be in  sewer bill hikes later) 

2018  New Garden, Chester County, & Bradford, Chester County,and Cheltenham in Montgomery County  are underway  selling to Aqua .  Pennsylvania American Water, the state's largest private operator, is buying the sewer systems in Sadsbury Township in Chester County, Exeter in Berks County, and two small systems in Northumberland County.

2019 

12-19 Cheltenham sold their Sewer to Aqua PA for 50.25 Million 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191219005799/en/Aqua-Americas-Pennsylvania-Subsidiary-Completes-Purchase-of-Cheltenham-Township-Wastewater-System  
 The Office of Consumer Advocate, an arm of the attorney general, has sued the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to block Aqua's $29.5 million acquisition of the New Garden Township sewer system in southern Chester County, saying that for this generation of customers, the sale will bring only higher rates.

2020

2-20  Jenkintown, as of 2020, has had the issue under discussion . (anyone have the current update ?)
https://www.montgomerynews.com/news/jenkintown-borough-council-sale-of-regional-wastewater-treatment-assets-detailed/article_4880b21c-46ae-11ea-b15b-d77cd042b82d.html

4-29-20 Pottsgrove's system for sale to American Water's PA subsidiary
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2020/04/29/american-water-to-buy-montgomery-county-wastewater.html

5-18-20  Delco Dems Make A surprize Move to Block Sewer Sale
https://www.inquirer.com/business/delaware-county-delcora-sale-aqua-pennsylvania-20200518.html

12-20 NO SALE in Norristown - In December 2020, the residents group NOPE won a victory against the privatization of their sewers. See: https://www.stopthesewersale.com/  Norristown is a  HOME RULE CHARTER municipality which allows ballot issues and referendums .


2021

1-21  Conshohocken -  January 20, 2021  The issue of a sale will appear again in Conshohocken
https://morethanthecurve.com/conshohockens-borough-council-taking-steps-to-consider-the-sale-of-sewer-system/ 

3-1-21 Opposition to the Sale in Conschocken gets more organized
https://morethanthecurve.com/opposition-to-the-potential-sale-of-the-sewer-system-in-conshohocken-gets-more-organized/

3-1-21 COPE :    Conshohocken Opposes Privatization Efforts 
 
Conshocken Residents Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/groups/cope2021
Conshocken residents won their battle with the help of NOPE

5-2-21  In Philly suburbs, sewer systems are for sale, and citizens push back, fearing rate hikes   https://www.inquirer.com/business/sewer-system-privatizations-aqua-conshohocken-norristown-chester-20210502.html

2022

1-25-22- Article in the Guardian  chronicles the  takeovers around the nation  :

Corporate vultures’: how Americans fearing higher water bills are fighting takeovers

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/25/corporate-vultures-americans-fearing-higher-water-bills-fight-takeovers?fbclid=IwAR1PtEnTuySyD904p5_BfXBMvYDXKzHvJ5IxMFZ57Hfb2izQyfYVFaH0gAQ

4-6-22  Towamencin - waging fight and uniting other Townships
https://whyy.org/articles/towamencin-residents-oppose-sewer-privatization/
They watched Cheltenham's rates go up, and residents are opposing the sale
Paid $9,500 to evaluate the Sewer study and  have bids for $115M and $92 M and $54M.  They believe their rates would double or more than double. See article to find their  Facebook page


The lesson here is that the systems are better in local hands but  “oversight is needed”   - much better than what we have now.

    How to fight the sale in your Town
 Listen : 6min listening to public comments that explain the situation well  https://youtu.be/6vlCrRdpJQA
 How Water corporations will raise your rates https://youtu.be/7lBzGrVosTA
Join/follow this Facebook page  :  




 




 

 


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Abington Township, with John Spiegelman in charge, revamped the entire Township website at the end of 2015 and broke all the links to the information we had archived on this site for you.   In 2017, Manager Richard Manfredi arrived and assigned someone not qualified to redo the entire website again. They not only broke all archived links we had reinstated, but made everything as impossible to find as they could. Nearly all of our comments and recommedations to fix the Township website have been wholly ignored.

So we do need volunteers to work together helping the Township create a site that is functional and accessible.  We will be reinstating links as we find them....if the data is still available. So... please let us know if you find a broken link. Send us the URL of the link  and the name of the page it is on, and if we can, we'll reinstate it.
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