Frequently Asked Questions

On April 29, 2024, Shaker Heights City Council approved legislation authorizing a sewer fee increase to be phased in over four years starting in 2024. The increase include:

• An increase to the City’s fixed monthly sewer fee that applies equally to each household and other property owners.
• An increase in the local MCF (thousand cubic feet of water) rate that generates a fee which will vary depending on water usage.

Fixed Fee Increase

Since May 2023, the fixed fee has been $10 per month. Starting in May 2024, this fixed fee will increase by $0.50 each year through 2027:

1. 2024: $10.50 per month / $126 per year
2. 2025: $11 per month / $132 per year
3. 2026: $11.50 per month / $138 per year
4. 2027: $12 per month / $144 per year

Local MCF Increase

As of May 2023, the local MCF rate is $12.50/MCF. Starting in 2024, the local MCF rate will increase by $2.00 a year through 2027.

1. 2024: $14.50/MCF
2. 2025: $16.50/MCF
3. 2026: $18.50/MCF
4. 2027: $20.50/MCF

The fee based on the local MCF rate is a variable charge. The number of MCFs consumed in each household will vary from month to month depending on water consumption. The less water you use, the less you pay. An MCF is a thousand cubic feet of water.

Revenue generated by sewer fees fund the City’s Sewer Maintenance Fund and are used for the maintenance, repair and, where necessary, replacement of our community’s storm and sanitary sewer systems.

Our sewers were built to last 50 years but are now more than 100 years old, in many areas. In July 2014, after a 50 year rain event caused extensive flooding throughout our community, the City developed a comprehensive Sewer Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program to aggressively address the system’s many deficiencies. The City established a proactive sewer maintenance program, while also systematically identifying the projects necessary to fully rehabilitate our sewer infrastructure. While we have made considerable progress on these projects since 2014, much work remains -- including federally mandated SSO (Sanitary Sewer Overflow) projects -- to ensure our City sewers will last for another 100 years.

Additionally, municipalities that do not proactively rehabilitate their sewer infrastructure can be placed under federal consent decree to do this work, which has happened in Lakewood and Cleveland Heights. 

• Sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs): An SSO is when untreated sewage discharges from the sanitary sewer into our local waterways. The Environmental Protection Agency requires municipalities to address SSOs or else face being placed under consent decree, as has happened in some local communities like Lakewood and Cleveland Heights. The City has worked proactively to fix SSOs, including the Fernway SSO in 2019 and the Huntington SSO in 2020. The next SSO project, Lynnfield / Lomond SSO, will start soon and positively impact 1,200 households. 
   
• Stormwater improvements, including culverts, like the one at the intersection of Green and Bryden roads that was replaced in summer 2023.
   
• NE Quad Infiltration / Inflow Reduction Program: An ongoing sewer rehabilitation project in the Mercer neighborhood.
   
• Sewer repairs in advance of street resurfacing: Our crews clean and repair sewer mains and laterals, catch basins and other sewer infrastructure before repaving a roadway.
   
• General sewer repairs: In 2024, this will include projects on Van Aken Blvd. and on South Park Blvd.
   
• Systematic maintenance program, including routine cleaning and inspections

Since 2019, when City Council approved legislation to increase sewer fees, the City has spent more than $21 million on sewers, an amount that includes more than $8 million in grant funding. About half of this money was spent on addressing sanitary sewer overflows. See Question 7 for additional details on sewer projects.

A well-functioning sewer system is critical to the quality of life of our residents and the health of our local environment. While we have made significant progress on rehabilitating our sewers over the years, much work remains to be done. The City’s 10-year capital plan identifies $28 million in sewer rehabilitation projects. Revenue generated by current sewer fees, approximately $2.3 million per year, is not adequate to fund these projects. Our current fees are used to fund sewer personnel compensation and other expenses including required debt service on existing sewer bonds. However, in order to continue to finance future sewer projects, the City will need to incur additional debt in the future and servicing the debt on those future bonds requires an increase in the sewer 

Sewer fees, which appear on your monthly Cleveland Water bill, fund the maintenance and rehabilitation of Shaker Heights’ public sewer infrastructure, specifically our sanitary and stormwater sewers. This includes all the sewer mains under our roadways, laterals that connect sewer mains to private property, and also stormwater infrastructure, like culverts and catch basins.

Your NEORSD bill pays for the processing of your sanitary wastewater, including treatment at NEORSD’s Easterly Treatment Plant. This bill also includes charges that fund NEORSD’s Stormwater Management Program. The Stormwater Management Program addresses flooding, erosion and water quality issues across NEORSD’s service area. Your stormwater fees help pay for stormwater-related projects in our community, including the Doan Brook Restoration Project and the Lower Lake Dam Replacement Project, and in other communities.

Municipalities fund sewers in a variety of ways, including fixed fees, per MCF fees and property tax assessments. Shaker’s sewer fees compare favorably with other cities whose sewer infrastructure is a similar in age to Shaker’s.