Gloucester Township residents are voting on a question about selling the sewer system. Here's what it means.
GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) — Besides voting for the next president of the United States, many people in one South Jersey town are also faced with a tough decision when it comes to their public sewer system.
For the past few weeks, red and white yard signs have been popping up in front of homes across Gloucester Township encouraging voters not to approve the sale of the public sewer utility.
"I'm dead set against it," Jack Liberi said.
This past summer, New Jersey American Water put in a bid to buy the sewage system for a whopping $143 million. Liberi, who has lived in the township for nearly 50 years, fears the sale will raise rates.
"Where are they going to get that money back? They're going to raise our prices and we're going to pay for it in the long run," Liberi said.
New Jersey American Water has launched its own campaign, spending thousands of dollars on ads trying to encourage people to vote yes.
"A yes vote will allow us to hit the reset button for us as a town financially," said Orlando Mercado, the council president in Gloucester Township.
Mercado says New Jersey American Water also offered an additional $90 million to improve the sewer system. He says their bid will help wipe out the township's $65 million debt, and help fund programs and projects around town.
"We've committed to use $35 million to decrease and freeze our local property taxes over the next five years, and there will be no loss of sewer utility jobs," Mercado said.
New Jersey American Water says it has acquired six other public utilities in the state in the past six years, which include the city of Salem, Egg Harbor City and Mount Ephraim in our area.
In the case of Gloucester Township, the president of NJAM says if the vote goes through, rates will be frozen for the first two years. Then, a 9% increase will be implemented over the next three years.
"At the end of the five years the average bill would go up about a little more than a dollar a month," New Jersey American Water President Mark McDonough said.
Gloucester Township officials say if the referendum does not pass, they will likely have to raise sewer rates. Both sides are campaigning hard ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.
