Herculaneum voters will be asked April 2 to allow the city to extend a 1/2-cent sales tax to fund improvements to the city’s sewer plan, as well as other capital improvements.
If voters approve the measure, there would be no increase to the current sales tax, but the 1/2-cent sales tax instead would be extended for another 20 years.
If the measure fails, the 1/2-cent sales tax, which has a sunset, would end in September, City Administrator Jim Kasten said.
He said the 1/2-cent sales tax originally took effect in 2004 and had a 20-year sunset.
The city collects a total of 3.5 cents per $1 in sales taxes, including 1 cent to for its general operating fund, 1 cent for safety and three 1/2-cent sales taxes, including one that funds the sewer system, one to fund capital improvements and the other for transportation.
Kasten said the 1/2-cent sales tax for the sewer system was first passed to pay off debt on the sewer plant after it was built. Now that the plant is reaching 20 years of service, it needs major improvements, which he said will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Kasten said some of the needed updates include pumps and motors; back-up pumps and motors; a new UV light system; upgrades to lift stations; a new bar screen grit auger for removing solids from incoming water; and fencing around the plant.
He said the funds also will be used to make sure the plant remains in compliance with regulations.
“The EPA and DNR are going to be coming out with more regulations, stricter regulations, stuff that will need to be added or changed in the sewer system that will cost money,” he said. “These are unfunded mandates that are coming down the pike, so with all those things in mind, we're looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars in the next few years that need to be spent on the plant.”
Kasten said the city also plans to use the funds to install odor-reducing systems in some of the lift stations, particularly those near the Providence subdivision, where the city has received complaints in recent years about odor in the area.
“Those systems (cost) tens of thousands of dollars,” he said.
Kasten said keeping the plant and lift stations running efficiently may prevent problems for residents down the road.
“When one of these pumps in these lift stations or sewer systems fails, that sewage goes somewhere, and we don’t want it to go into people’s basements,” he said.
Kasten said the capital improvement sales tax currently brings in between $300,000 and $350,000 per year, but that number can fluctuate based on the economy.
If the tax extension fails, the city will need to raise sewer rates to pay for the plant improvements, he said.
“A better way than increasing fees to the customer is to continue the sales tax so people who come driving through town buying a burger, a pack of doughnuts or whatever, are paying for it too,” he said. “And to generate the kind of money this sales tax will generate would mean raising the fees about $17 a month for all the residential customers.”
Kasten said it’s up to residents whether they want the sewer plant improvements to be paid for with sales tax or sewer rate increases.
“The board felt that continuing the sales tax would be better received by the residents than increasing their monthly sewer rates.”
