[Adopted 8-31-1981 by Ord. No. 81-26]
Commencing October 1, 1981, and thereafter an annual sewer user
charge will be paid by all users of the facilities provided by the
Borough of Metuchen and the Middlesex County Utilities Authority (hereinafter
referred to as "MCUA") in accordance with the terms and provisions
of this article.
User classes shall be as follows:
A.
Tax exempt: includes institutions which pay no ad valorem taxes or
receive substantial credits in paying such taxes except publicly owned
facilities performing local government functions which discharge solely
domestic wastes.
B.
Industrial and commercial: includes all users which discharge the
equivalent of 25,000 gallons or more of domestic sanitary wastewater
per day.
C.
Residential: single and multifamily dwellings and small nonresidential
and industrial users which introduce no more than the equivalent 25,000
gallons per day (gpd) of domestic sanitary wastes.
A.
Tax exempt and industrial and commercial users shall be invoiced
directly for their use of the sewage treatment system. Industrial
and commercial users shall receive credit for the amount of such charges
which are included in their ad valorem taxes.
B.
Sewer user charges shall continue to be charged to residential users
through ad valorem taxes rather than through direct sewer use charges.
A.
At least once each year, the Borough of Metuchen shall review and
revise, as necessary, sewer use and sewer user charges and shall establish
a schedule of charges by flow, biochemical oxygen demand, suspended
solids, chlorine demand and such other criteria as the Borough of
Metuchen shall deem appropriate. Any charges so established shall
provide for the equitable distribution of:
B.
The schedule of user charges shall provide for revenue in an amount
equal to the total of the above costs. The Schedule of Charges shall
be amended yearly at the time of adoption of the Borough's annual
budget, or at such other times as the Borough may determine, to reflect
changes and/or adjustments in the charges.
[Amended 9-15-1997 by Ord. No. 97-20].
Wherever actual readings of sewage flow are available, those
readings shall be used in determining flow charges. All industrial
users shall be monitored for actual flow. Where actual readings of
sewage flow are unavailable, flow will be estimated by any of the
following ways:
A.
For commercial and industrial and tax exempt users, flow will be
estimated by taking 100% of the average water flow and /or other meter
reading for the year. Credit for water not discharged into the sanitary
sewer may be given to the user by the Borough if the user presents
proof satisfactory to the Borough which establishes the amount of
water not discharged.
B.
The volume of sewage and/or industrial waste from each industrial
establishment may be determined by meters paid for and installed by
users, combined with municipal and/or private company water records
or from estimates or measurements made by representatives of the municipality.
Wherever actual readings of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
or suspended solids (SS) or chlorine demand (CD) of a user are available,
those readings shall be used in determining charges for the strength
of sewage. All industrial and commercial users shall be monitored,
or their sewage sampled periodically to determine the BOD and SS and
CD characteristics of the sewage. The industrial or commercial user
shall, at its own expense, sample the BOD, SS and CD characteristics
of its sewage at the frequency and according to the method assigned
by the Borough and shall report the results of such sampling to the
Borough in a timely manner.
A.
Any flows or strengths which are not chargeable to a particular user,
whether by reason of the user being exempted from charges or by reason
of the flow entering the system by infiltration or inflow, shall be
charged to all users, proportionately on the basis of flow.
B.
No roof drainage, cellar drainage, unpolluted industrial process
water, surface water, waste from hydrants or ground water from underground
drainage fields shall be admitted or be permitted to drain into the
sewage system. The sewer system is intended to convey sanitary sewage
and industrial wastes only.
Any user objecting to any estimate of flow, or strength, hereunder
shall have the option, at his or her own expense and cost, of installing
metering equipment on his or her discharge lines to record actual
flow and strength readings. The metering equipment used, its installation,
the location of installation and the method of sampling shall be subject
to review and approval by the Borough of Metuchen or its designated
representatives.
Any user who discharges into the system toxic pollutants which
cause an increase in the cost of managing the effluent or the sludge
of the treatment works shall pay for the increased costs.
Any user who connects to the system during any calendar month
shall pay a pro rata user charge based upon the user charge assessed
for the current quarter.
The user charges established and provided for herein shall be
due and payable quarterly on the first day of the month following
the end of each calendar quarter.
Public buildings, defined as those used solely for local municipal purposes, are excluded from the user charges called for in this chapter. The usage of said public buildings shall be treated as extraneous flow, as defined in § 153-21 hereinabove.
[Last amended 12-3-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-10; amended 9-19-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-22; 10-24-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-21]
A.
The following schedule of charges is hereby adopted in connection
with this article:
|
SCHEDULE OF CHARGES
| ||
|---|---|---|
|
Tax Exempt Users
|
Rate
|
Unit
|
|
Flow (including up to 162 mg/l of BOD and 226 mg/l of SS)
|
$1.2626
|
Per thousand gallons
|
|
BOD in excess of 162 mg/l
|
$0.3043
|
Per pound
|
|
Suspended solids in excess of 226 mg/l
|
$0.3714
|
Per pound
|
|
Chlorine demand
|
none
| |
|
Infiltration and inflow charge
|
$0.0389
|
Per $100 of tax assessed value
|
|
Industrial and Commercial
| ||
|
Flow (including up to 162 mg/l of BOD and 226 mg/l of SS)
|
$1.2626
|
Per thousand gallons
|
|
BOD in excess of 162 mg/l
|
$0.3043
|
Per pound
|
|
Suspended solids in excess of 226 mg/l
|
$0.3714
|
Per pound
|
|
Chlorine demand
|
none
| |
|
Infiltration and inflow charge
|
Included in property taxes
| |
|
Tax credit
|
$0.0668
|
Per $100 of tax assessed value
|
|
The rates listed shall apply to the first quarter of 2022, beginning
January 1, 2022 and for all quarters thereafter until amended.
| ||
