Faced with the prospect of paying $5,600 more a year for sewer services, apartment building owner John Petrosky feels he and his tenants, mostly senior citizens of modest means, were ‘overlooked? by Oxford Township
‘I didn’t know anything about it until I read the newspaper,? said Petrosky, a retired dentist who’s owned Manitou Lane Apartments for about 12 years. ‘I feel I’m on the bad end of this.?
Last month, the township board adopted a new Residential Equivalent Unit (REU) schedule which raised the unit assignment factor for multiple family housing, such as apartments, from 0.6 to 1 per unit effective April 1.
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 and sewer use is measured.
At last week’s township Water/Sewer Committee meeting, Petrosky, of St. Clair Shores, expressed his concerns about how the new REU schedule will affect him and the approximately 80 people currently living in his 56 apartments at 160 Manitou Lane, right on the Oxford/Orion border.
Because Manitou Lane Apartments are hooked up to a private well, not the township system, water is not an issue. However, the new REU assignment will affect Petroskey’s sewer bill.
Currently, he pays $37.80 per apartment per quarter ? an annual sewer bill of $8,467.
The township’s new REU schedule will have Petrosky paying $63 per apartment per quarter for sewer or $14,112 annually.
‘That’s a big hunk,? he said. ‘I never could buy a mutual fund or a stock, so I bought this apartment building hoping that it would pay in my old age.?
Between rising taxes, insurance premiums and now the sewer bill, he doesn’t know how he’s going to be able to pay off the mortgage and make a living off his building.
‘This will probably force an increase (in rent),? Petrosky told this reporter. ‘That’s difficult in this economy because everybody’s having financial problems, especially the people that rent apartments like mine. They’re not wealthy people.?
Petrosky said it’s not fair to compare his apartments with single family residences and mobile homes, which were also raised from 0.6 to 1 REU.
‘Nobody washes their car there. We don’t water the lawn. We don’t do anything,? he told the committee.
The only water and sewer his tenants use comes from the kitchen and bathroom. ‘It seems like a private home uses an awful lot more water than we do,? Petrosky said.
Petrosky noted his apartments aren’t crammed with people. Currently, there are approximately 80 tenants living in the 56-unit building.
A majority of the apartments have only one person living in them. Fourteen apartments have two people occupying them while three units have three residents each, including children.
‘We don’t have heavy occupancy at all,? he said.
Petrosky also told officials that two-thirds of his apartments have one bedroom. The average size for these units is 720-square-feet.
The rest of the units have two bedrooms and an average square-footage of about 820.
‘These are small units,? Petrosky said. ‘They were built 25 years ago. They’re not luxurious
Only one apartment has 1,100 square feet and that’s occupied by the caretaker.
With rents ranging from $470 to $620 per month, Petrosky prides himself on providing reasonably-priced housing occupied by decent people.
‘These are low (rents) and I keep them that way because I can pick and choose good tenants, and not have to take anybody just to fill up the apartment,? he said. ‘We have good people, mostly seniors.?
Water/Sewer Committee Member and township Trustee Doleen Behnke, one of the architects of the new REU schedule, said it was originally recommended that one, two and three bedroom apartments be assigned different REU values based on size.
However, this approach was changed during discussions at the Water/Sewer Committee level.
‘We were told to treat them all as one,? Behnke said. ‘We were told they would rather see one-size-fits-all.?