Hookup shortfall, need infrastructure updates cited with sewer rate hike

The Greenfield City Council approved a sewer rate amendment that will take effect July 1 and eliminated a temporary tornado-related surcharge at its Tuesday, March 24, meeting.

In addition, an update was provided on the bidding process for the next phase of the city’s sanitary sewer rehabilitation project. A contract award is expected later this month.

A public hearing was held March 17 on the sewer rate amendment. The amendment calls for a 15% rate increase effective July 1, followed by 10% increases in each of the next two years.

“We are still down 54 sewer hookups, which is a substantial amount of money,” City Administrator Michelle Carns said. “Because we’re dealing with this infrastructure, we thought it would be better to eliminate the tornado surcharge. GMU has a 10% increase in its water rates — and our sewer system relies heavily on that water — so we’re planning this increase to coincide with that. It covers us for the fact that we’re still down those hookups. It also coincides with the fiscal year.”

Carns said she understands an increase like this may “feel like a lot to our people in the region,” but said Greenfield remains one of the more affordable communities for sewer rates.

“We have to be mindful so we’re not aging out any of our infrastructure,” Carns said.

Mayor Brian Fox asked for clarification on the statement that the town is still down 54 hookups. Carns explained that in some instances, three homes were lost and only one was rebuilt on the same property. Rental units, such as duplexes, were also lost.

“A lot of it is just a lack of housing supply coming back quickly enough,” Carns said. She said housing projects currently in the planning or approval phases could go a long way toward helping the community return to its original number of sewer connections.

The sewer rehabilitation will utilize slip lining, a method of repairing sewer lines without digging them up. The process can be likened to inserting a smaller straw inside a larger, cracked straw. The new straw carries the drink while the old straw remains around it.

Max tax levy hearing

Prior to last Tuesday’s regular meeting, the city council held its required maximum property tax hearing. The hearing explains what the city might collect in property taxes in the upcoming year and sets an upper limit for that.

The current tax rate is $11.75 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. It is poised to rise to as much as $13.12 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Carns said that certain areas of the published notice for the maximum property tax levy could land with lower amounts by the time the final budget is approved later this month.

Jeri Pickrell of Greenfield asked during the hearing whether or not her property being vacant after the tornado will eventually be reflected on her tax statement. Officials said abatements have been processed and will take effect in the coming year — it’s always a year behind.

“At some point, you might see your vacant property if it was assessed during that time. Some of our homeowners had a vacant property right after the tornado but their rebuild started so quickly that there wasn’t an assessment on their vacant property,” Carns said. “It’s our tax abatement program but the county administers it. Those questions are best taken to the county assessor. The board of supervisors are also very willing to help.”

Carns said the tax abatement program — which is something usually utilized by cities to encourage fixing up properties — was approved in 2024 at 50% for five years.