EATON — Sanitary Engineer Kyle Cross met with county commissioners to discuss the sewer rates for Sewer District 3, which encompasses the Village of West Elkton, on Monday, March 1.

Cross explained how the revenues are collected using equivalent dwelling calculations (EDUs.) He noted, currently there are 125.1 EDUs in Sewer District 3, generating $103,808 per year.

Some $42,400 of this is obligated to loan repayment; 13 percent to collection, and 8 percent to treatment funds. The remaining $28,014 is the annual operating budget for Sewer District 3, according to Cross.

Cross said Preble Shawnee Local Schools advised his office West Elkton School was no longer being used and would be discontinuing paying its 34 EDU allocations and would continue paying a single EDU monthly.

Cross explained the historic monthly cost for EDU for the sewer district, which was established in 2001. The initial rate was $59 per month per EDU.

“In 2005, it increased to $65.50 per EDU. And in March of 2012, it was increased to what is the current rate of $69.15, per month per EDU,” Cross said. “With the school, basically reducing 34 from the equation, it’s going to create a revenue shortfall.”

Cross proposed there were two options: increase the rate to make up for it, or his proposal of reallocating the $69.15 per EDU.

“What my proposal is, we’re not going to have any increase to the users, or the residents of West Elkton — that rate will remain $69.15,” he said. “However, the monthly or the individual allocations are going to change; the operating cost is going to go from $19.10 to $25.79, the debt retirement is going to change from $35.20 to $38.78, and the R&R (repair and replacement) funds from $9 to $2.29 and from $5.85 to $2.29. Essentially, what we’re doing is making up for that shortfall through reducing the R&R funds.”

Even though the rates to users would not technically be changing, Cross said because rates were created by a commission resolution, a resolution would be needed to make the allocation adjustments, and public hearings would have to be held as well.

Commission staff will work with the prosecutor’s office to get legal advertisements and hearings regarding the issue scheduled.