81 million: How do local municipalities foot the bill

Published: January 21, 2010

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Imagine: $81 million!

The number may seem like peanuts compared to the federal budget, but in terms of a local project, it's staggering.

But that's how much the Shamokin-Coal Township Joint Sewer Authority will have to come up with for its stormwater-sewer separation project and a new sewage-treatment plant over the next couple years.

How in the world can a small, rural municipality come up with such big bucks?

As was sorted out in a meeting involving authority officials and representatives from state and federal government Tuesday; the money will have to come from a number of sources. The more the merrier, for sure.

The authority is looking at $41 million for sewer separation in the west end of Coal Township in 2012; later this year, $40 million in improvements to the wastewater treatment plant will begin.

The $81 million total, by the way, doesn't include the $14 million-plus being spent on sewer separation in the Springfield section of the township that's already under way.

"Grants at $5 million are welcome," the authority engineer said Tuesday, "but it leaves a considerable shortfall."

That's an understatement.

Of course, like much local spending, the sewer-separation project is mandated by the federal government. And it's a vital project. Across the nation, stormwater and sewage as part of the same piping structure causes overloads to sewer plants during periods of heavy rain that results in raw sewage dumping into waterways.

That's why the EPA is requiring the project. But the cost to taxpayers in most cases is simply extreme.

PennVEST will likely be of some help. But the money the agency was allocated through a 2008 election referendum totals $400 million; while that sounds like a lot, Shamokin and Coal Township alone could use one-fourth of the pot, which is obviously intended for distribution statewide.

Mount Carmel Municipal Authority was fortunate in the sense that it received the $13 million-plus it needs for its new treatment plant from the federal stimulus money. But more stimulus money isn't guaranteed; indeed, timing may not be on Shamokin-Coal Township's side.

The authority was advised to act with haste, and that's enough to make the public even more nervous. We trust that the authority board will also act with the best interest of the taxpayers in mind. Costs should be scrutinized and accounted for at every turn, despite the rush.

If there is one bright spot to all this it's that the sewer work should certainly be its own "stimulus" to the local economy. Spending $81 million will create ancillary benefits in relation to jobs, supplies and services that might help local or regional businesses.

Beyond that, however, taxpayers should be prepared for higher sewer rates.

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