Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Anthony Donofrio, left, and Trumbull Co. Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice confer during the MVSD hearing...by R. Michael Semple

WARREN — The judges who oversee operations at the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District got some answers Wednesday about why district officials want rate increases totaling 33 cents per 1,000 gallons of water over the next three years.

But the judges indicated they did not get enough answers.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Anthony Donofrio and Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice listened to testimony from MVSD’s chief engineer and its plant operations manager — who couldn’t answer Rice’s pointed questions about exactly how much cash the district has on hand.

Rice and Donofrio said they will take their testimony under advisement and, after looking at exhibits produced by MVSD attorney Thomas Wilson, will come up with a decision “after an appropriate time frame.”

“It’s a tough issue,” said Rice, who punctuated the 90-minute hearing with some tough questions about the MVSD’s finances and bookkeeping statements.

In responding to Wilson’s questions, plant manager Tom Holloway said a rate increase of 11 cents per 1,000 gallons over each of the next three years is needed to pay for a $49 million project to refurbish the dam and spillway at Meander Reservoir, upgrade a tank that separates the solids from the water, and replace 3,500 feet of a 36-inch transmission line that brings water to the West Side of Youngstown.

WHO WOULD PAY

The MVSD, established under the Ohio Revised Code, formed in the 1920s to provide clean drinking water to much of the area’s population.

The annual increases would be billed to Youngstown, Niles and McDonald, and that cost could be passed along to other customers.

Youngstown and Niles resell the water to their residents and to Girard, Canfield, Mineral Ridge, Lordstown, Craig Beach and portions of 10 other townships, including about half of Boardman.

Rice noted actual water users number about 200,000 throughout the Mahoning Valley.

“We are talking about a whole lot of money here,” he said.

The district last raised its rate for water, with the agreement of the member communities and the order of the court, on July 1, 2015, Wilson stated, noting that rate has remained at $2.10 per 1,000 gallons of water.

Rice, wondering why the district is going after the cash option rather than looking at grants and loans, asked both Holloway and MVSD chief engineer Michael McNinch how much money the district has on hand.

Both men gave various answers ranging from $6 million to $33 million, but Rice said he wanted to refer to audited figures by the state because he “didn’t trust” figures only supplied by MVSD officials. Rice also said he was concerned when MVSD officials didn’t provide the court of jurisdiction with yearly financial statements, only giving the court figures over the last five years.

McNinch said his figures show if there were no rate increases, the district would face an operating deficit of about $232,000 over the next fiscal year.

As far as operating costs, McNinch said the district has seen “dramatic increases,” particularly in the cost of chemicals used in the water treatment process.

NOT FOR PROFIT

At a recent MVSD board meeting, officials from Niles and McDonald indicated they would not be opposed to rate increases.

Officials from Youngstown and Niles were in the Trumbull County courtroom to listen to the testimony.

Rice also tried to pin down a profit figure for the district in the years since a sizable rate increase was initiated in 2004.

“It was not designed to be, nor should it ever be, a profit-making venture,” the judges had written in a letter to the MVSD board in announcing the Wednesday hearing.

When Rice asked if MVSD officials had looked for other funding sources, McNinch noted the district has applied for a BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) grant, a program funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. McNinch said the district applied last year for the grant, but was rejected and has applied again this year.

The grant could account for up to 70 percent of the infrastructure cost, McNinch said, which accounts for about $30 million.

“However, we won’t know if it will be entirely funded or partially funded,” he told the judges — also noting that $800,000 has been received through an Ohio Public Works Commission program to help pay for the Youngstown waterline replacement.

gvogrin@tribtoday.com