CHEMUNG COUNTY, NY (WENY) -- If you live in Chemung County, you may have recently gotten a postcard in the mail informing you that your sewer rates are going up significantly. This is because of a New York State-mandated construction project, that's estimated to cost $275 million.

"To [be] in compliance with the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) regulations, that's why this project is being done... Every time we get a significant amount of rain, we have overflow [and] obviously it's detrimental to the (Chemung) River and therefore, you can be fined for that. This will take care of that problem," said Chemung County Executive, Chris Moss.

For people who live in the Chemung County Elmira Sewer District (Elmira & Southport), your rates will go up by 45%. This would be an increase of $4.72 per 748 gallons of water used.

For people who live in Chemung County Sewer District Number 1, (Horseheads, Veteran, Elmira Heights & Big Flats) your rates will go up 78%. This would be an increase of $390.10 per 60,000 gallons of water used.

Moss said the goal of the project is to consolidate the two facilities into the existing one on Milton Street in Southport. He said the sewage system is decades old and is something that's been overlooked for a long time. Moss said people can expect to see the price increase for a couple of years.

"Folks just got an increase in their latest bill and they'll probably see a matching increase next year. It's probably not going to level off until about 2026, and then it would be market rate [at] three to four-percent," said Moss.

Moss said the rehabilitation project is being for in part with American Rescue Plan funds, along with loans and grants.

"I think the pandemic did play a part in seeing the cost increases... It's hard to get materials, labor, [and] it's hard to get folks to bid on the jobs. Two hundred million dollars was our starting point, then it jumped to $225 million [to] $250 million... I'm not sure it's going to go over $300 million [but let's hope it doesn't.] It's just something that's been overlooked for an extended period, and now we've gotta fix it and we don't have a choice, it's being mandated. We have some low-interest loans. We do have some grants, so it's a combination, but the rest will be made up by these increases that you see... We either have to borrow the money or find the grants. We've been pretty successful in locating grants, but not to the tune of $300 million. Unfortunately, the user gets the cost passed onto them at the end of the day," said Moss.

At this time, it's unclear exactly what people who have private wells will have to do. WENY reached out to the Executive Director for the Chemung County Sewer District/Sewer District multiple times on Monday, June 3rd, but didn't hear back before publishing this article. We will provide an update once we get an answer.

In an unrelated matter, Chemung County issued a press release on June 3rd, alerting water customers to an error with the Elmira Water Board. It states:

"Chemung County Sewer District users in the Elmira Sewer District were issued invoices with the incorrect amount. Invoices received by customers were slightly higher (two months additional usage) than the actual amount. This issue was caused when the Elmira Water Board inadvertently forwarded fourteen (14) months worth of usage as opposed to twelve (12) months. If you received an invoice, please disregard it, as new bills will be issued in the upcoming weeks. If you already paid the invoice, a refund will be issued for any overpayment. We apologize for the error and any inconvenience this caused."