The meager nine percent of St. Louis City and County voters who cast ballots in Tuesday’s election said they are not ready to double their sewer bills right away.
About 85 percent voted in favor of the $945 million bond issue that will allow the Metropolitan Sewer District to fix the system’s environmental hazards and raise sewer bills gradually.
All eight of MSD’s proposed amendments to its operating charter also passed with ease by about 80 percent margins.
The bond issue’s approval means residents will see their bills increase monthly to $43.67 by July 1, 2015. Today, the average monthly single-family wastewater bill is $28. On July 1, 2012, average bills will rise to $31.
However, like a mortgage, residents will pay more over time from the accumulating interest in repaying the bonds. By 2020, property owners will face rates that exceed $80 per month, according to MSD’s projections.
If voters would have shot down Prop Y, their monthly bills would have spiked to $64 on July 1 – but rates would have remained at about $65.15.
The $945 million bond goes towards the first phase of the district’s $4.7-billion system overhaul, which MSD is legally bound to complete.
In June 2007, the State of Missouri and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a lawsuit against MSD – in part because untreated sewage was flowing into the Mississippi River. In August 2011, the EPA announced a settlement agreement that calls for MSD to spend $4.7 billion over the next 23 years to eradicate over 350 sewer overflows.
The proposed MSD wastewater sewer system improvements will significantly reduce the number of sewage backups in residential basements, said MSD representatives.
Nationally, the major election story was activist Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker narrowly surviving a recall election prompted by his aggressive moves against unions representing state workers.