Mayor Gusciora Warns Water Utility Bill Would Trigger Suburban Rate Hike

Bill to create redundant bureaucratic oversight of Trenton Water Works would slow down improvements, cost ratepayers

TRENTON, N.J. – Today, Mayor W. Reed Gusciora sent a letter of opposition to Assembly Telecommunication and Utilities Committee Chairman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) regarding a bill being considered this week by the committee. The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman DeAngelo, would create a regional commission to oversee the city’s water utility, Trenton Water Works. A PDF copy of the letter is attached and the full text is below.

“This unnecessary duplication of bureaucratic oversight will not only hinder further improvements of services from Trenton Water Works (TWW) but will unnecessarily raise costs for suburban water ratepayers,” Mayor Gusciora wrote in the letter, which he also distributed to committee members. “Put simply, your bill will only impede further progress at TWW and begs the question why there needs to be another layer of oversight and approvals (in addition to DEP, DCA, and BPU) for system upgrades, which would only result in further delays.”

The bill, A4243, would establish the Mercer Regional Water Services Commission as oversight body over certain Trenton Water Works operations.       An identical Senate version, S2831, has also been filed and referred to committee.

Trenton Water Works is the public water utility that supplies drinking water to a quarter-million residents in the city of Trenton, as well as Hamilton, Ewing, Lawrence, and Hopewell townships. TWW is among the largest publicly-owned, urban water utilities in the United States. Established more than 200 years ago, TWW now has 119 employees operating a sprawling water-filtration plant and water-distribution system, including a 100-million-gallon reservoir. TWW supplies an average of 27 million gallons of drinking water per day to 66,000 metered customers.

Letter text:

Dear Chairman DeAngelo:

I wish to express my opposition to your bill A.4243, setting up a seventeen (17) member Regional Water Services Commission. This unnecessary duplication of bureaucratic oversight will not only hinder further improvements of services from Trenton Water Works (TWW) but will unnecessarily raise costs for suburban water ratepayers.

I certainly understand your interest in the operation of TWW as a resident and representative of the Township of Hamilton.  However, and as you know, TWW is under oversight from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), wherein we are operating under a voluntary Administrative Consent Order (ACO) laying out timelines for compliance with environmental regulations.  Indeed, we have substantially complied with the ACO and are in the process of making system upgrades and adding qualified personnel to oversee TWW operations.  By adding another layer of oversight on purchasing equipment and staffing, your bill would actually slow down the operational improvements at TWW.

In addition, the City of Trenton, is under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the NJ Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for Transitional Aid to Municipalities, essentially providing the same oversight as you seek in your bill.  Moreover, it was specifically because of the MOU entered into under the Christie Administration that TWW could not hire sufficient personnel or make such system upgrades, thereby causing the very problems you seek to prevent.  The NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU) also provides protection to ratepayers with their own oversight of TWW as a public utility.

Put simply, your bill will only impede further progress at TWW and begs the question why there needs to be another layer of oversight and approvals (in addition to DEP, DCA, and BPU) for system upgrades, which would only result in further delays.

Finally, I would be remiss if I failed to note that since the TWW will have to comply with yet another layer of oversight under A.4243, we will have to hire additional compliance personnel, thereby adding costs to consumers.  In essence, your bill amounts to an additional water tax on suburban ratepayers.

Accordingly, I regretfully oppose your bill in its present form.  In the meantime, should you have any questions or wish to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours very truly

1. Reed Gusciora

Mayor

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