Sioux Empire Today

In addition to the annual 2% water and sewer increase, the city has implemented a monthly sewer surcharge of $26.00 that will be placed on every sewer account within the city beginning with your February 1st bill.  

This surcharge is a requirement placed upon the city by the state to guarantee loan repayment for our new sewer facility. 
The city currently utilizes a lagoon system to process our sewer waste but these lagoons are reaching their life expectancy.  The city did conduct a feasibility study to evaluate multiple options for wastewater treatment and ultimately decided that a new mechanical plant was the best option for the city.  Land for this new sewer facility was secured along I90 by exit 390. This new sewer facility  will handle the city's future population growth, along with more commercial and industrial growth.  It will also allow for future regionalization with neighboring communities and will have technology to comply with the state's more stringent discharging regulations.  Engineers projected the cost of this new mechanical plant to be approximately $16.7 million.  Luckily, the city secured grants for over 1/2 of this cost but the remaining balance, approximately 7.2 million, required the city to secure a State Revolving Fund loan.  This is a 30-year loan at 2.125% interest and does require the city to place a $26.00 surcharge on every sewer account for repayment of the loan.  Once the loan is repaid, this surcharge will not be collected.  The infrastructure for water and sewer are necessary for the future of Hartford.  If you have any questions about this new surcharge, please contact city hall at 605-528-6187.   

Original source can be found here.