Hikes in Sewer, Solid Waste Fees Take Effect in February

Kent City Council took action Wednesday on numerous agenda items, including final approval of rate increases for sewer service and solid waste collection, as well as a three-year compensation package for non-union city employees who have agreed to go without raises this year.

Sewer, solid waste rate increases

Council gave final approval to a 9 percent increase in sewer rates and a 5 percent increase in solid waste collection fees. Both go into effect starting with the February billing period.

The solid waste fee, which appears monthly on residents’ water and sewer bills, covers the cost of the city’s contract with Portage County for weekly curbside recycling service. It also funds such programs as the curbside spring cleanup.

A 9 percent increase in water rates is now in effect.

The rate increases were born, in part, out of to determine the costs associated with operating and maintaining the city's water and sewer plants and their associated equipment, which includes 76 miles of water and 64 miles of sewer pipes running beneath the city.

City administrators said they have had to rely on the city's general fund to bridge budget gaps in the water and sewer departments in recent years.

The rate increases, which administrators presented to council as a "" are meant to pay for major infrastructure maintenance and repair work for water and sewer utilities by spreading out the necessary increases over the next several years instead of creating a large, one-time rate increase.

The rates are expected to increase by 9 percent each year for the next four years. Rates are expected to level off in 2016, but they will still increase annually by 3 percent through 2017 and beyond.

Non-union employee compensation

Council approved a general compensation plan for non-union employees that calls for no pay raise this year, followed by a 1 percent pay increase in 2013 and a 2 percent pay increase in 2014. It's the same pay scale council already approved for the city's more than 140 union employees.

The plan covers city employees who work in positions that aren't members in one of Kent's six public employee unions. The positions include department heads and other staff but not the city manager, who in 2010 asked council not to give him a raise in light of the city's financial state.

The compensation ordinance was approved despite objections from several council members regarding three items tacked onto the measure earlier this month.

Council members Heidi Shaffer, Tracy Wallach and John Kuhar said they were opposed to granting the budget and finance director a $300 monthly car allowance when other city employees had agreed to go without raises this year.

City Manager Dave Ruller had proposed the car allowance last month as a matter of fairness, stating the finance director was the only "senior management" employee not receiving the stipend.

The ordinance was approved, but council members later agreed to Kuhar's suggestion to have the finance committee study the issue.