April 1, 2022 When we are not limited, we all thrive
Terry Godfroid Marecki
Commission Resolution calls for action on water, sewer rate increases. Livonia's Marecki takes lead.
Wayne County Commissioners Terry Marecki (R- Livonia) and Joseph Palamara (D-Grosse Ile) have co-sponsored a Resolution addressing the recently announced increases of 3.7% for water rates and 2.4% for sewer rates by the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) for the fiscal year 2022-23. The Resolution was forwarded with a recommendation by the Commission’s Committee on Public Services at their meeting on March 29 for consideration of the full Wayne County Commission on April 12.

The Resolution calls for the Wayne County Commission to "expeditiously review the circumstances” contributing to the pending increases, and to "consider alternative options to address the proposed rate increases,” including possibly amending the GLWA’s Articles of Incorporation which were adopted in 2014.
The increases have caused widespread controversy among GLWA member communities after it was revealed that they are linked, in large part, to an ongoing dispute over claimed unpaid bills by a member community to GLWA. 

 “The events leading up to the introduction of this resolution have already taken place and continue to have repercussions for our residents. The intent is to further the discussion on what we can do,” said Commissioner Terry Marecki (R-Livonia), who chairs the Public Services Committee. 

“It is not our intention to act as judge and jury about what has taken place in the past between GLWA and Highland Park. It could be another community who was involved in this situation,” Commissioner Marecki said. “But as a matter of process and policy, it’s wrong that these claimed unpaid bills have historically been put on all our bills, usually without notice.”

“If there’s a dispute over unpaid water and sewer bills between GLWA and a member community, the resolution of that should not fall on the backs of the ratepayers from all other member communities. That is just not acceptable,” said Commission Vice-Chair Palamara, who is also a Public Services Committee member.
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19514 Livonia 48152
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