Florissant Sewer Lateral Fee Reduced to $28

After running out of time in 2011, the .

The city council quickly approved a bill to lower residents’ sewer lateral fee from $50 to $28.

The sewer lateral program insures homeowners against sewer lateral failures, as the repairs could cost residents thousands of dollars.

During; however, the council ran up against St. Louis County’s deadline for it.

According to numbers obtained from Ward 1 Councilman Tim Lee, more than $414,000 was spent from the sewer lateral fund during the 2010 fiscal year. In 2011, as of October, more than $437,000 has been spent. As of Sept. 30, $1.6 million sits in the sewer lateral emergency fund balance.  

Ward 7 Karen McKay as well as other councilors believed that there’s more than enough money in the fund to sustain sewer lateral repairs. The council voted unanimously to reduce it.

The administration gave tremendous support for the reduction as well. 

"Mr. Jearls and I have no objections to lowering the sewer lateral fee from $50 to $28 per year, which is the amount that the majority of St. Louis County municipalities are charging," Florissant City Engineer Tim Barrett wrote in a memo to Mayor Tom Schneider. "We anticipate that we will be able to continue our excellent level of service to Florissant residents for the forseeable future." 

“We’re excited to be in a position to do this,” Mayor Schneider said following the meeting. “We have every confidence to provide this service for the foreseeable future without having to raise it.”

Mayor Schneider said that the next step in the process is to notify St. Louis County of the reduction. He said that residents would see the $28 reflected in their 2012 real estate tax bill.