Certain residents and businesses hooked up to the Oxford Township water system will experience an increase in their water and sewer bills beginning April 1.
Last week, township officials voted 4-2 to adopt a revised Residential Equivalent Unit (REU) schedule, created by township Trustee Doleen Behnke and Planning Commission/ZBA Coordinator Barb Walkaus.
‘I think it was a long time coming,? Behnke said. ‘It brings everything more up-to-date.?
An REU is a way to equate higher volume water users to single family homes, which are used as the standard. The single family residence with its value of 1 REU is the basis around which all other facilities? water consumption is estimated.
For instance, a car wash with automatic conveyor is assigned 33 REUs per lane ? which is equal to 33 single family homes ? according to the REU schedule created by the Oakland County Drain Commission.
REUs are used by the township to help calculate sewer bills, to determine how much water system users pay in bond debt charges ($128 per year per REU) and to bill for new hook-ups to the water system ($6,075 per REU).
REUs are not used to calculate actual water usuage, which is metered.
The county’s REU schedule, which was used by Oxford Township, was established in the 1950s and revised in 1998, however, not much was changed.
‘A lot of the items on that REU schedule were still from the 1950s,? Behnke said.
As part of their capstone project for their Master Citizen Planner course, Behnke and Walkaus, with input from the township engineer and building official, created a more up-to-date schedule that included some new numbers and new categories.
Behnke said the new REU schedule makes ‘things more fair and square? for everyone on the water system.
For instance, under the county schedule mobile or, homes and multiple family residences each equaled 0.6 REU ? less than a single family home.
Under the township’s new schedule, mobile homes and multiple family residences, which include apartments, condos and duplexes, equal 1 REU ? the same as a single family home.
Residents of the Lake Villa Manufactured Home Community, for example, would pay the full $128 per year (or $32 per quarter) water bond debt charge beginning April 1 as opposed to the $76.80 per year (or $19.20 per quarter) they’re paying now.
The new REU schedule will also affect sewer bills. Every sewer user in the township ? residents and businesses alike ? pays a minimum each quarter of $63 for 1 REU.
After that first REU, businesses with meters pay for sewer use based on actual water usage, whereas non-metered businesses pay quarterly sewer bills based on how many REUs were assigned to them (i.e. $63 multiplied by the number of REUs).
One aspect of the new REU schedule didn’t sit well with Trustee Sue Bellairs. She noted that single family homes have lawns and gardens to water whereas apartments owners don’t have any outside watering to do and mobile home lots are ‘very minute ? if there’s anything to water at all.?
‘I don’t think they should be quite the same,? Bellairs said. ‘I would have liked to (have) seen them at 0.8 (REU).?
With ‘our economy so bad,? Bellairs said raising mobile homes and multi-family residences to 1 REU is going to ‘hurt? people financially.
But Behnke noted that mobile homes, apartments and condos today can use just as much water, if not more, than standard single family homes.
‘A home is a home is a home,? Behnke told the township board. ‘You can have 10 people in an apartment or you can have two people in an apartment.?
‘Years ago, when you had a mobile home or an apartment, you usually had just a couple of people living there. You didn’t really have full families in them,? she later told this reporter. ‘Now, people have full families in them.?
Trustee Pat Fitchena expressed the same sentiment. She said if you talk to school officials, they will ‘tell you there are more children in these mobile home parks than there are in apartments and condominiums in this area.?
‘Many of those mobile homes have four and five kids in them,? Fitchena said.
Behnke also noted that mobile homes nowadays are much larger than many homes in the older part of the township.
‘It’s very hard for a person who has a 960-square-foot home or smaller to pay 1 REU while a person with a mobile home of 2,000 square feet is paying 0.6 (REU),? she said.
Increasing the REU assignments of mobile homes and multi-family residences weren’t the only changes.
Conventional restaurants with or without drinks were lowered from 0.13 to 0.10 REU per seat.
Bowling alleys with no bars or lunch facilities remained 0.16 REU per alley. However, now if there’s a bar, the township will add 0.044 REU per bar seat and if there’s a lunch or snack facility, another 1.80 REU per restaurant will be assigned.
Hotels and motels are still 0.38 REU per room. But if they have a bar, 0.044 REU per bar seat will be added and if there are restaurants, another 1.8 REU per restaurant will be assigned.
Service stations are still 0.24 REU per pump. However, if there’s a convenience store, add another 0.16 REU per employee.
Stores not specifically listed on the county schedule were assigned 0.16 REU per employee. Now, such stores will be assigned 1 REU for every 5,000 square feet.
Behnke said this was done with ‘big box? stores in mind. Assigning REUs per employee wasn’t fair because the size of the staff can ‘fluctuate,? she explained.
The township’s recently adopted REU schedule also includes five new categories not listed on the county schedule.
They include day care facilities (1 REU or, with meals, 2.8 REUs), fire stations (1 REU), group homes (no meals/0.40 REU per person) and landscape/nursery/garden centers (1.1 REU for every 1,000 square feet).
Public golf courses are the fifth new category and they are assigned 1 REU for every nine holes. If there’s a bar, add 0.044 REU per seat. Snack bars add 1.8 REUs each. And banquet facilities add 0.50 REU for every 1,000 square feet.
Supervisor Bill Dunn wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of the township having to reassign REUs for all the businesses.
‘We’re going to have to go to every business and reevaluate every business,? he said. ‘I didn’t know we we’re going to have to go back and redo everything.?
‘You’re creating a monster here,? Dunn noted.
But Behnke said it shouldn’t be too difficult to accomplish this.
‘I think it’s a feasible, workable item to do in 30 days,? she told this reporter.