Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, has come out against a nearly 30 percent proposed rate hike by Aqua Indiana.

In a letter sent Monday to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, Long calls Aqua Indiana’s proposed 29.8 percent rate hike for the Aboite sewer district "excessive and inappropriate."

This month, Aqua Indiana asked the IURC to grant the rate increase for its 13,000 customers in Aboite Township. The sewer rate increase would be phased in over two years, officials said.

A typical customer’s metered bill would go from $42.97 a month for sewage to $55.77, and customers using well water and paying an unmetered rate would see their sewer bills go from $59.21 a month to $76.83.

The proposal would also allow the private utility to charge new customers a one-time hook-up fee of $1,300 to connect to Aqua Indiana’s wastewater treatment system.

In his letter, Long said the recent request is part of a pattern of continuous and significant rate increase requests and awards, the most recent of which was a 7 percent water rate increase and 8 percent sewer rate increase in 2011.

Last week, Aqua Indiana said it had not had a rate increase since 2010 and used the money to improve treatment plants and infrastructure.

Two years ago, Aqua Indiana began receiving its water from the city of Fort Wayne, which was expected to save customers about $10 a month. But as part of that deal, the city was allowed to ship about 1.5 million gallons of sewage a day for treatment in Aqua Indiana’s plant.

Long wrote that, to his understanding, none of the sewage to be treated will come from Aboite, but yet it is Aboite ratepayers being asked to foot the bill for the expansion of the treatment plant to allow for the new load.

"Aqua should be told to pay for the expansion of its Aboite sewer works from the profits of the sale of its Aboite water system to the city, … as well as from the lucrative contract it has signed to treat the (city’s) sewage," Long wrote.

rgreen@jg.net