Timing of proposed Cherry Hill fee hike irks many

A proposed sewerage fee hike in Cherry Hill has drawn criticism that township leaders delayed announcing the increase until after the Nov. 3 council election.

"I feel like there was a bait-and-switch," Nancy O'Dowd, a Republican who ran for a council seat, said at a council meeting this week. "You announce a $42 tax cut - and then, two weeks after the election, you announce a fee hike."

The annual fee charged residential properties for sewer service would increase from $75 to $95, with equivalent increases for commercial properties. Officials say the increases are needed to cover a projected $800,000 shortfall in revenues for the coming year.

If passed, the increased fees would substantially offset a 4 percent property-tax decrease announced in September, which averaged about $42 per household.

Mayor Bernie Platt, a Deocrat, said in an interview Tuesday that he was made aware of a likely shortfall this summer but that staffers needed time to determine actual figures.

"We don't just jump to do things because we hear there's a shortage," he said. "I was not ready to make a decision at that time."

The shortfall results largely from the drop-off in construction, which typically generates substantial fees from hooking new properties into the municipal sewer system, Comptroller Debbie Campbell said. This fiscal year, those fees are projected to total $200,000, down from $3,000,000 in 2006.

According to township officials, Cherry Hill's residential sewerage fees have not been raised since 1991. Since then, the cost of maintaining the system, which in some sections of town dates back more than three decades, has risen annually, Public Works Director Steve Musilli said.

"Cherry Hill has the lowest sewage rates in the area," Council President Steven Polansky said at Monday's meeting.

Criticism from the small crowd in attendance circled back to timing, with former Republican mayoral candidate Phil Guerrieri telling the council, "You had to know there was a shortfall before the election."

Dissent extended to the usually harmonious council.

Councilman Frank Falcone, a Democrat who said he decided not to run for reelection this year over differences with Platt, was one of two council members who voted against the fee increase. The ordinances detailing the hikes were given their first reading Monday and will go up for final approval Dec. 13.

"Now's not a good time to be raising anyone's taxes and fees. People are struggling out there," he said. "We knew about this a month ago when we were working on our budget. Why now do we have a surprise sewer fee?"

Asked whether he believed that the administration delayed the announcement because of the election, in which Platt's Democratic ticket took all four open council seats, Falcone said he had no comment.

"I'm trying to go out gracefully," he said.