The Crestwood Board of Aldermen had a preliminary discussion at its Oct. 13 meeting regarding a possible change to the city’s sanitary sewer lateral program — an existing program that helps eligible homeowners cover the cost of repairs to defective sanitary sewer lateral lines.

Established in 1999, the program is funded by a $28 annual fee paid by every Crestwood property owner. It covers 100% of authorized costs up to $10,000 for eligible repairs to the portion of the sanitary sewer lateral extending from five feet outside the home’s foundation to the sewer main in the street right-of-way or sewer easement. Property owners are responsible for 50% of authorized repair costs above $10,000. Routine maintenance and cleaning, certain minor defects, final grading/ground repair, as well as seeding and sod installation, are not covered.

Brought to the board’s attention by Ward 3 Alderman Grant Mabie was the fact that the flat fee of $28 annually has never been adjusted since its inception nearly 30 years ago, despite the statute being amended in 2003, permitting an annual fee of up to $50. According to Mabie, about a quarter of cities within the county have done this.

“Inflation adjustment on $28 in 1999 is actually $57.09 (today). Even a $50 fee would be less than the original $28,” Mabie said.

According to Mabie, the sewer lateral fund was “flush with cash and running a surplus” with “a huge multi-year reserve” in 2020, so the city started paying the public works administrative staff salaries — 20% of those — out of the sewer lateral fund.

“The general fund, obviously in 2020, had a lot of other obligations,” Mabie explained.

In 2025, the city saw a deficit in the sewer lateral fund, forcing it to reevaluate the program. Four options were recently brought up, though nothing is set in stone as the board is still in the early stages of discussion. Should one solution be decided on, it will go before the voters, likely in the April election.

The first idea, the staff recommendation, was reducing the threshold for Crestwood’s total repair coverage from $10,000 to $2,500.

“I’m personally opposed … because I think residents who get stuck with some surprise sewer lateral bills are not going to be happy about that,” Mabie said.

Ward 4 Alderman John Sebben spoke on this option later, stating opposition.

“I think going all the way down to $2,500 is a big change there,” he said. “When it comes to the options of raising or replacing, I am more in favor of replacing partially because it inflation-proofs to a degree everything.”

The next choice discussed would be to take the staff salaries that are currently being paid out of that fund and move them back to the general fund the way it was prior to 2020.

“That puts the fund back in a very slight surplus,” Mabie said. “It probably solves the problem for a couple of years, so that’s the ‘can-kicking’ move, but then we’re probably back here in three or four years.”

The third option is to increase the $28 annual fee to $50, which on a monthly basis would be approximately $1.83 extra for residents.

“Obviously, I never take lightly when we’re asking our residents to dig in their own pockets, but I think for most folks, an extra $2 a month would be preferred to a surprise $1,000-5,000 bill that traditionally would have been covered,” Mabie said. He then added, “Frankly, it puts us probably back here in about a decade when inflation then erodes that, and we’ll have to look for another flat fee adjustment and waste more money on an election.”

The last solution discussed by the board would be to get rid of the flat fee and replace it with a percentage-based tax — a 6.3-cent tax increase, according to preliminary calculations.

“This would be basically the same tax the residents pay either to the zoo or the art museum — I think those are actually very slightly higher,” Mabie said. “Because it would be a tax based on the value of the home, it changes depending on the valuation of the home.”

He then went through the calculations, starting with a $150,000 home; for a house that price, calculations show an annual tax of $17.96 — a $10 reduction to the current fee.

“For a $250,000 home, it’s a $29-and-change annual tax, so it’s a $2 per year increase. A $350,000 home is an annual tax of $41.90, which is about $14 over what someone’s paying now, but less than asking them to pay a $50 fee. For a $450,000 home, it would be $53.87, which is about $26 more than the current rate — still less than inflation. And if your home’s at $550,000, you’d have an annual tax of $65.84, which is a $37 increase, with a change of about $3.15 per month,” Mabie said.

No action was taken as the board needs more time to discuss options and go over its findings with the board members absent from the meeting — both Mayor Scott Shipley and Ward 4 Alderwoman Megan Gadallah were not present. The decision deadline, if something were to appear on the April ballot, is January.

“We can table this discussion tonight and continue it next meeting,” Mabie said.