[This topic will be discussed at the January 26, 2023, Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting at 7 PM. Register to attend and share your comments with supervisor Mack and your neighbors: https://forms.gle/zajnSU6GEhda1nFB7]

Rates for most Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority customers will increase about 10% and the rates for wholesale customers will go up 16% as the authority begins a major project to repair or replace leaky pipes and other infrastructure components.

An announcement about the rate increases was made in September and retail customers received notices in their January bills, said Brian Dries, spokesman for the authority.

The residential monthly average will increase from $48 to about $53 over the next three years. Rate increases for residents served by BCWSA’s wholesale customers would be at the discretion of the individual municipalities since they are responsible for approving and maintaining the rates for (their) customers," Dries said.

The authority has about 75,000 retail customers who pay their bills directly to the BCWSA and another 12 wholesale municipal customers [such as the Newtown Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority (NBCJMA)] who serve some 450,000 people in their municipalities.

Customers of the Newtown Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority (NBCJMA) will be paying 20 percent more this year to flush their toilets.

In addressing the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors, executive director Warren Gormley said the authority is passing along to its customers a 16.6 percent rate increase by Bucks County Water & Sewer (BCWSA) to pay for an upgrade to its Neshaminy Interceptor, the main trunk line that carries flows from Bucks to the treatment center in Philadelphia.

That increase is the first of a planned three phase rate increase being passed along by BCWSA to the 13 municipalities that use the interceptor.

Supervisor John Mack asked Gormley, “We opposed the sale of Bucks County to Aqua because you told us the rates would increase significantly. Did we make a mistake in doing that?”

Gormley said there would have been an increase either way, but projections were that the increase would have been much greater if Aqua had purchased the system.

Listen to Mr. Gormley’s comments regarding the rate increase… https://sco.lt/5ZvGNc 

The Bucks County Water & Sewer Authority (BCWSA) has launched a capital improvement campaign that will invest $155 million for significant upgrades and repairs across its aging sewer system.

The initial investment is part of an ongoing infrastructure improvement initiative that BCWSA will continue to fund over the next several years.

The authority recently sold bonds to fund the first phase of the campaign, which includes $60 million for major upgrades to the Neshaminy Interceptor, a large diameter pipe that carries wastewater from Lower Bucks County to a treatment plant in Philadelphia. The project will bypass and replace 12 miles of aging pipe infrastructure to mitigate inflow and infiltration for both economic and environmental improvements.

The project impacts Bensalem, Falls, Bristol Township, Newtown Township*, Newtown Borough, Northampton, Middletown, Langhorne Borough, Penndel Borough, Hulmeville Borough and Langhorne Manor Borough.

Agenda Items:

• Consideration to send a letter in accordance with the BCATO request related to the potential BCWSA sewer sale
  Public Hearing
• Blue Point Grill (BPG), 3 West Road - Conditional Use
• Piccolo Trattoria, 32-34 West Road – Conditional Use
• Consider approving zoning enforcement settlement agreement re Gun Shows at the NAC Sports Training Center
• Consider adopting a Resolution authorizing the placement of a referendum on the November 8,  2022 general election ballot seeking voter approval of an additional one-half mill of real estate tax  annually to support ambulance, rescue, and other emergency services
• Authorization to draft a Resolution supporting Abortion rights

More...