Introduction of water-sewer rates for 2026-2027

By Dana Casadei

The water and sewer rates for 2026-2027 were presented at the Monday, April 13, Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees meeting.  

Noah Mehalski, director of public works, gave the board background of the township’s water and sewer rates, and how they expect to propose a 3.5 percent increase for 2026-2027 rates – a rate that won’t be finalized until presented for approval at the April 27 trustee meeting.

While Mehalski’s proposed increase is only 3.5 percent, the estimated increase for the South Oakland County Water Authority (SOCWA) is at 7.5 percent and the Oakland County Water Resource Commissioner (OCWRC) is proposing a six percent increase. 

Bloomfield Township distributes water to residents that is suppled by the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) through SOCWA, and sewer is provided by OCWRC.

“You’re still minimizing the cost to the residents versus what is being proposed to us. Kudos to you for trying to keep rates as conservative as possible,” said trustee Neal Barnett.

While kudos were given about the proposed rates themselves, things got a lot more contentious when the meter replacement program was brought up, a program that is now in its fifth year.

When asked about the cost of the meters, Mehalski said that each meter is about $450 and installation is typically under $200, depending on the meter size. He emphasized that they had selected the lowest bid during this process, and this was something that had been approved multiple times by the board of trustees across many meetings.  

“Approving revenue is not approving expenses, and that makes me absolutely livid,” said trustee Mark Antakli. “The fact that you wanted to spend all that cash and you didn’t come to the board for approval to spend all that cash.”

Supervisor Mike McCready told Antakli that he didn’t think that was an accurate claim. Trustee Chris Kolinski also stepped in, acknowledging that both Antakli and Mehalski are professionals and that they needed to act that way. 

That professionalism lasted only a few moments before Antakli started up again, questioning the accuracy of figures presented, something that many other board members disagreed with. At one point Antakli was practically shouting at clerk Martin Brooke and asking about his business background and if he had an MBA.

“Mark, you have to take a step back,” McCready said. “I think you’re misinterpreting what he’s (Mehalski) saying. You categorize things the way you want to see it. You have to open up and see how he operates it and take a step back and give it a better study. I think that would help.”

The meter replacement program was originally created to help replace the 52 percent of meters in the township that are over 15 years old, taking advantage of the technological updates to meters, therefore, giving the township the data to better accurately reflect the amount of water passing through the pipes.x

“We can catch those leaks a lot quicker,” Mehalski said. “It’s better customer service, and hundreds have benefited from it already.”

Trustee Valerie Murray knows first hand how beneficial the new meters are. Her family, she said, has caught two leaks in their water system with the new meter, which provides update through an app.

The new meters will also play a role in one of the key rate considerations that was brought up at the meeting; the development and implementation of a tiered rate structure for the township. This sort of rate structure would work to achieve the goal of customer control of costs, and rewards water conservation with lower rates while those who use more water would pay a higher tier. 

Currently, the Meter Equivalency Unit (MEU) structure is used in the township, which allows for billing of fixed fees based on the potential draw of the system that is determined by meter size.

While communities charge a flat fee for their water and sewer rates, Bloomfield Township is not one of them, which is, in part, why residents often see rate increases year after year. Another reason is because Bloomfield Township has historically experienced a decline in water usage per customer account over the last 20 years, coming in at about one to two percent decreases each year, on par with a national trend of decreases in water usage. 

Bloomfield Township members pay an often higher rate compared to others in nearby communities because of size, scale and scope. Since Bloomfield Township is such a spread out township there are fewer people on the system paying into each pipe. Fewer people paying into each pipe equals higher costs when comparing it to say, Birmingham, whose system is one-third the length of Bloomfield Township’s, which has 330 miles of water that have to be taken care of.

The township owns, operates and maintains over five hundred miles of buried water main and sanitary sewer lines.

“We try to make sure that we have good pipes in the ground, and we continue to invest in the infrastructure,” Kolinski said. “We do not want to be a community that continues to have sewer main breaks or rate instability. I believe what we’re doing is right.” 

Another consideration discussed was the implementation of monthly billing – something that Mehalski said has been requested by customers and they hope to begin during the 2026-2027 rate year. Right now, the township bills one third of the residents each month. 

Trustee Murray asked if there was going to be an electronic option for paying bills, which there is, according to Mehalski. In total, the switch to monthly will cost an estimated $20,000 in set up and execution, and while it will be more work, all trustees seemed confident it could be handled by the team.

The other two items for key rate consideration that Mehalski discussed were potentially looking at alternative suppliers for water and sewer services, and the strong level of support they will need from the board to continue the implementation and development of the capital improvement program and asset managers plans, which will help to ensure the high-level of service is maintained or improved within the township.

“I can’t emphasize it enough that the capital improvement programs are so important, and essential to the residents to make sure that the water is clean and is flowing to their houses, that we’re having minimal water breaks, and if we do have water breaks we are able to address them very quickly,” said trustee Neal Barnett. “It’s essential that we continue to invest in the underground systems. People don’t think about that, but without that, we’re not going to have clean water or the water flowing. There’s certainly a cost to that.”

The 2026-2027 water and sewer rates resolutions will be presented to the board of trustees for approval at their meeting on Monday, April 27.