Through a simple act of submitting a form, municipalities have the chance to cash in on new development. Both the Bergen County Utilities Authority (BCUA) and the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) sponsor a "Sewer Connection Rebate Program" to give towns money for letting them know about new sewer connections.
Both programs began within the last five years and have been widely successful. The BCUA will award East Rutherford and Carlstadt with checks for $9,110 and $2,607, respectively, in the March 4 ceremony. In 2007, the PVSC awarded Lyndhurst with $2,604, North Arlington with $166 and Rutherford with $91.
Any time a developer changes the use of a property to one that will be more intense on the water system, it is the construction department’s obligation to let the water utility know about the new development. The developer must pay the BCUA for connecting to the sewer system and the towns receive a 15-percent cut at the end of the year, for up to $5,000 per development.
The largest development in East Rutherford to receive a building permit this year was the new Giants Stadium. The rebated exceeded the cap, giving the borough a $5,000 rebate. Other developments may rake in as little as $45, such the addition of 10 seats at a luncheonette in North Arlington.
Often times, a new development will not qualify for a sewer connection fee, for example, the addition of one bedroom to a home or even a two-story addition without any changes to the number of units.
Even the largest rebate received by a BCUA municipality, Paramus, only received $12,000, a relatively small amount when compared to municipal budgets which fall in the $15 to $20 million range. Weirer called "small" a relative term when applied to the limited amount of work required to qualify for the rebate.
Not every town submits these referral forms. "We’ve had a few towns where a couple referral forms have slipped through the cracks," said Rich Weirer, the director of Solid Waste for the BCUA.
However, now towns are getting the hang of submitting the forms due to the rewards involved. "The basic reason for the rebates is to encourage compliance with submitting the forms," said BCUA director Len Kaiser.
In addition, the water utilities collect substantial sums of money from the developers. This money is used by the water utility to pay off debt service on capital projects, said Kaiser. "The idea is to get new connections and new developers to pay their fair share of capital costs," he added.
Passaic Valley’s rebate program has been around as long as the BCUA’s program. However, unlike the BCUA, Passaic Valley sends out rebate checks quarterly as opposed to annually. The PVSC had problems with collection connection fees years ago, prior to the rebate program. "I don’t think building officials knew the obligation was there," said Rich Ambrosino, a spokesman for the PVSC.
