Bristol Sells Sewer Authority For $50 Million

The Bristol Borough Sewer Authority has approved the sale of the town’s sewer authority and infrastructure.

The vote was unanimous and came after Bristol Borough Council recommended the sale.

The move came quickly and with just a few days of public notice.

The borough will sell the municipal-owned sewer system and treatment plant near Maple Beach to the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority for $50 million. The deal is expected to be completed by June or July.

The agreement to sell the Bristol Borough Sewer Authority to the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority comes with a stipulation the three borough sewer employees will be offered jobs and customer rates will stay the same for three years.

“What you’re paying today … is the same rate you’re going to pay for the next three years. That’s as simple as it gets,” said Benjamin Jones, the CEO of the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority.

The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority estimates customers will pay about $14 per month more and lower-use customers could pay as little as $2.50 per bill more if existing rates remain over the next three years.

Borough sewer customers currently pay $81 per quarter for 10,000 gallons and $7.06 per 1,000 gallons after that. The Bristol Borough Sewer Authority charges a rate of $23.68 per month and $5.88 per an additional allotment of 1,000 gallons.

Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority CFO Jason Hillaert said two of the system’s two major expenses will be paid off in the coming years. He said it’s “possible” rates could shift lower once those debts are paid off.

The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority was chartered by the county in the 1960s and services many municipalities in Bucks County and a handful in Montgomery and Chester counties. They provide service to more than 100,000 households.

The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority is also a public entity and not a private company. The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority not a publicly traded company on Wall Street, like Aqua America, which provides water service to the borough.

Residents raised concern online about the risk of rates rapidly rising under new ownership. However, Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority officials said their service rates are below regional averages.

Bristol Borough Council President Ralph DiGuiseppe said the sewer system is almost fully out of debt and is in good running order.

DiGuiseppe noted that the system is hurt by its small size and he worries the impacts on rates when work is needed or an emergency comes up. The borough does apply for grants to help fund upgrades, but that money isn’t guaranteed.

Jones, the CEO of the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, complimented the borough on their sewer system, its condition, and how it has been run.

The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority has “selectively acquired” smaller public systems over the years, including Doylestown Borough, Langhorne Borough, and Middletown Township’s system over the past 30 years, Jones said.

Bristol Borough’s sewer system and treatment plant has unused capacity. That capacity, which was previously being used by Bristol Township before that system’s plant was upgraded, could be used by the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority to treat other water from their system, Jones said.

The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority and Bristol Borough Sewer Authority have worked together on projects in the past, officials said.

Jones and DiGuiseppe said the borough joining the larger public system would provide “economies of scale” and come with benefits for customers.

Jones touted that the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority has live-person customer relations staff, around-the-clock emergency call coverage, in-house construction and repair crews, and a security operations center that monitors the system’s 160 facilities.

Borough officials did not note what the municipality plans to do with the $50 million in one-time revenue, but DiGuiseppe said he hopes it will be invested correctly and benefit the borough for decades to come.

The borough has little debt left to pay off. It is close to paying off debt for road repaving, DiGuiseppe said.

Bristol Borough sold its water system and treatment plant along the Delaware River on Radcliffe street to Aqua Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s. The privately-owned system provides water service for the borough and some surrounding areas in Bristol Township.

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