People utilizing the municipal sewer system in the village of Northport and Leelanau Township will most likely see an 8% annual increase in operations and maintenance fees over the next four years.
Northport Village Council trustees unanimously approved the Northport-Leelanau Township Utility Authority (NLTUA) annual rate increase as well as an additional loan request Thursday evening at its regular board meeting. After the NLTUA conducted a comprehensive utility rate study with the assistance of Utility Financial Solutions (UFS) under the guidance of Dawn Lund, it approved “scenario one” of three options of the study, which proposed the 8% annual increase. The report concluded that the NLTUA system is “currently cash critical,” and that “inflation and capital costs are increasing at unprecedented rates and the projection should be updated every year with the budget process to ensure the findings in this report are on track.”
“This was the rate study to sort of give us some projection of what capital improvements are necessary over the next 10 years and what our financial obligations are to be able to maintain the system’s status quo going forward,” said Chris McCann, Northport Village Council president and NLTUA member.
