It appears Oxford Twp. and Village will be paying less to Oakland County for sanitary sewage disposal, but the question is, will the projected savings be passed on to users via lower rates?
Officials have adopted a wait-and-see approach.
‘As long as everything comes together as the county’s projecting,? Treasurer Joe Ferrari said he could ‘definitely? see the township board reducing sewer rates at some point.
But the first couple of quarterly sewer bills from the county must be reviewed and compared to previous bills before any decisions are made, he noted.
‘We have to see how this is going to come together,? Ferrari said. ‘We have to make sure (the savings) they’ve projected is what actually happens.?
As of July 1, the county began billing communities for sewage disposal based on actual, metered flow as opposed to estimated usage.
All sewage in the township and village flows to Detroit for treatment. For this service, Detroit bills the county, the county then bills the communities and the communities in turn bill the individual users. Along the way, operating and maintenance costs are added on by the county and communities.
Billing based on actual flow is projected to lower the township’s annual sewage disposal cost from $737,848 to $610,597 ? a $127,251 (or 17.2 percent) reduction.
The village’s annual sewer cost is expected to drop from $279,209 to $256,116 ? a $23,093 (or 8.3 percent) reduction.
‘These are only estimates,? noted Tim Prince, chief engineer for the Oakland County Drain Commissioner’s Office. ‘If I was a community, I’d probably say I’ll keep the rates the same for this year and we’ll see what the numbers really end up being the following year. But it’s really up to the community to make that decision.?
Village Manager Joe Young isn’t anticipating a reduction in village sewer rates at this point. ‘Dollar-wise it sounds like a lot of money, but percentage-wise it’s very small,? he explained.
Young said other costs such as utility, fuel and labor provided by the Department of Public Works have to be factored in before any reductions could be considered.
‘You’ve got to look at your costs of doing business,? said the manager, noting the ‘final audit numbers,? which the village is awaiting, must also be reviewed and taken into consideration.
Always one to look at the bright side, Young noted, ‘The good news is at least we know it’s not going to go up.?
On the township side, Ferrari said ‘assuming it’s going to happen? the way the county is expecting, ‘we could definitely do some reduction for our residents.?
‘We’re very fortunate our sewer fund’s very healthy,? the treasurer noted. Ferrari said the township’s only interested in covering its costs, not making a profit.
Prince said basing the billing on metered flow as opposed to estimated usage is not only going to result in more accurate billing, it will also encourage communities to find and repair any areas in their sewer systems where ground water or storm water maybe leaking in.
‘Under the old method, there was no incentive for communities to dry that up because they weren’t being billed based on flow. They were being billed based on how many people tied into system,? he explained. ‘Now, there’s incentive to remove storm water or ground water if it’s getting into the sanitary system because it’s taking up capacity and costing them more money.?

Representing Leonard’s Old Time Barber Shop in the dunk tank is Robin Rapson. She repeatedly got dunked during the annual Strawberry Festival. For more festival photos, please see pages 11, 13 and 28. Photo by C.J. Carnacchio.

The bad news is assessed residential property values are continuing to decline. The good news is, as a result, property taxes for 2010 will decrease as well.
‘Probably 80 to 85 percent of the people will see their actual taxes go down this year,? said Dave Hieber, manager of the Oakland County Equalization Division.
According to the county, the state equalized value (or assessed value) of residential properties in Oxford Township decreased by an average of 14.33 percent, while in neighboring Addison Township they fell by 15.45 percent on average.
State equalized value (SEV) is equal to 50 percent of a property’s fair market value.
As always, Hieber noted the averages reported here are for the entire community, not individual properties.
‘Obviously, it’s different neighborhood by neighborhood,? he said. ‘Some went down more than others. Some were less than the average (drop).?
Property owners will find out how much their SEV decreased for 2010 when they receive their new assessment notices in February.
Countywide, residential SEVs dropped by an average of 15.5 percent with the largest decrease in Southfield (28.31 percent) and the smallest in Bloomfield Hills (7.78 percent).
‘Oxford and Addison are both fairly average for the county,? Hieber said.
The new SEVs are based on home sales that took place between Oct. 1, 2008 and Sept. 30, 2009.
‘We look at the assessments at the time of the sale,? Hieber explained. ‘We adjust the assessments either up or down based on the market conditions.?
Based on sale prices during the 2008-09 time frame, the properties that sold were over-assessed and had to be reduced to 50 percent of the fair market value, which is what the SEV is supposed to be, he said.
‘There’s been an increase in the number of homes that have been sold, but there’s still a decrease in price,? Hieber noted.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any end in sight when it comes to falling property values.
‘I don’t think we’ve bottomed out,? Hieber said. ‘The reason I say that is the 2011 values will be based on sales from Oct. 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010. Already, looking at sales from Oct. 1 through the present, we’re still seeing property values decreasing. Hopefully, not at the same rate of 15 percent a year, but it’s too early to really call. We’re expecting further reductions in 2011, if everything continues on the same trend.?
The good news in all of this is the continued drop in SEV means taxpayers will see their local summer and winter property tax bills go down this year.
‘We’re expecting a decrease in taxable value in Oxford of around 12 percent,? Hieber said.
In Addison, the overall taxable value is expected to decline by 11 to 11.25 percent.
Hieber noted those are only estimates and could change depending on the decisions made by the local Board of Review, which meets in March.
When multiplied by local millage rates, a property’s taxable value is the basis for how much is paid in property taxes.
Hieber said the ‘significant? tax reductions this year will be for those properties in which the SEV and taxable value are the same or very close.
The exceptions are properties that were sold after having their taxable values capped for a long time or properties that have undergone new construction.
‘Other than that, everybody else will see a reduction in taxes,? Hieber said.
Declining SEVs aside, most everyone will experience a property tax decrease this year because the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is negative 0.3 percent, according to Hieber.
Because of Proposal A, approved by state voters in 1994, increases to a property’s taxable value are limited to the rate of inflation (as measured by the CPI) or 5 percent, whichever is less.
Hence, having a negative CPI means taxable values will decrease accordingly.
Residents who live in communities in which the county does the township’s assessing, like Oxford, won’t have to worry about calculating how much their tax bills will go down. It’s already being done for them.
‘We’re going to have an estimate of the tax change in dollars right on the (assessment) notice based on last year’s millage rate,? Hieber said. ‘We thought that would be helpful.?
Hieber noted the calculated tax decrease is assuming there are no tax increases or new millages. ‘We’re assuming the tax rates are the same,? he said.
Addison residents won’t see this tax calculation on their assessment notices because the township does its own assessing.