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Matt Parido, authority administrator and borough manager, said Thursday the discussion will review the Chesapeake Bay Initiative and the cost of mandated upgrades to the authority's wastewater treatment plant.
"We want people to be aware of what's going on and why," he said.
He said effective Wednesday the authority will need to raise sewer rates 20 percent for both the base rate and additional usage. The rate for the first 8,000 gallons is $104.70 per quarter. That charge will increase to $125.64. The rate for additional gallons is $9.46 per 1,000 gallons, and it will increase to $11.35.
The average authority customer, who uses 13,000 gallons per quarter, will see annual rates increase to $559.31, up from $466.10.
While the rate increases will be needed to meet current expenses, officials hope to obtain state funding to offset the estimated $10 million cost of improvements mandated by the state Department of Environmental Protection for the Chesapeake Bay cleanup.
The authority serves about 2,300 homes and businesses in Manheim Borough as well as parts of Penn and Rapho townships.
Parido said the authority understands its responsibility in upholding Pennsylvania's portion of the bay cleanup.
"Unfortunately, such responsibilities come at a heavy cost, all of which is distributed between the authority's constituents," he said.
Last year, the state legislature earmarked about $800 million for infrastructure improvement projects, and additional funding may be available through the $400 million that was approved by Pennsylvania voters in November.
Manheim Authority submitted a grant application earlier this year for $6.7 million in funding from the H2O grant program administered by the Commonwealth Financing Authority. Parido said the H2O grants will be announced on July 14.
"We hope to receive some funding from the H2O grant so that we will not have to finance the cost of the entire (sewer plant) project. Grant funding will be available next year as well, but that won't help us, since upgrades must be completed by the end of 2010," Parido said.
In preparation for the new water treatment regulations, Rettew Associates did a rate study for the authority in 2006 and updated the study this month.
As the result of the earlier study, the authority increased rate payer fees in 2007 and intended to implement a rate increase last January. But the action was rescinded Jan. 15 meeting because an application for the H2O grant was being submitted.
Additionally, Manheim Borough council agreed to guarantee a $5 million loan for the project on Jan. 27. That loan, and any other loan for the project, is structured so that user rates will be set to support the liquidation of the debt.
