Local News
Residents of New Palestine are furious over the rise in sewage rates
New Palestine, Indiana – Wednesday night, the New Palestine Town Council unveiled a plan to increase wastewater utility fees.
Should approval be granted, the monthly charge would increase from $72 to $97.15 on November 1st, and from there to $140.87 in 2026. The town’s wastewater treatment plant was built in 2017 and is currently running at maximum capacity, but the council claims the facility requires repairs.
Morgan Hopkins, a resident, is irritated because the building is already outdated.
“With a bad set of teeth, we’ve bitten off more than we can chew,” Hopkins remarked. “Is this making sense?”
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management may assume control of the plant’s operations if the town does nothing.
The expected cost of the facility’s renovations is $25 million, according to Teri Reed, president of the New Palestine Town Council, but this is subject to change.
Reed remarked, “That is the worst case scenario.” “We will calculate the rates after we receive our construction bids on October 23rd,” the statement reads.
When the facility’s design was authorized by the previous town council in 2017, Reed and her colleagues weren’t there.
Reed claimed, “They didn’t account for the growth.” The main attraction of our area is our excellent school system. It is already fully occupied.
Residents, however, were unwilling to absolve the incumbent town council of its responsibilities.
An individual going by the name Sam expressed frustration that the city permitted so much growth before addressing the problem with the wastewater plant and that they are only now becoming aware of the fee rise.
“I think it’s a terrible way to let people know you’re having a rate increase,” the handwritten note on my bill informing me to expect a rate increase in November, and the refusal to acknowledge that we, or the people before us, messed up and this is what we’re going to do to fix it, are the other things that bother me.
According to Reed, sewage costs have already increased in Greenfield and Cumberland.
The increase will be put to a final vote at the council’s next meeting on October 28.
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