If you live in Duluth, then your monthly sewer bill will go up $3.20 a month after a close vote tonight by the City Council.
The increased charge, which is being assessed to the more than 25,000 property owners connected to the city's sewer line, will go toward helping homeowners pay for lateral line improvements the city is requiring to help eliminate sanitary sewer overflows.
The city believes faulty private sewer lines lead to overwhelming the city's public sewer lines during rain events, and has been required to fix the lines by the Environmental Protection Agency or face thousands of dollars in fines.
But the private fixes to the lines can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars all the way up to $20,000 or $30,000. The average price has been about $7,500.
Many people faced with paying for the repairs asked the city to come up with a way to help them pay.
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The council split 5 to 4 on Duluth Mayor Don Ness' proposal. Supporters said the fee will help solve a communitywide problem, while those against said it was wrong to have public tax dollars go toward repairing private property.
Councilor Greg Gilbert opposed a similar plan last year, but changed his vote this year after the council passed an amendment sunsetting the fee in 2012.
The city will pay 80 percent of the first $5,000 for property owners required to fix their lines, with a maximum grant amount of $4,000.
Low-interest loans are available to help property owners pay for the rest of the repairs.
