Dear Editor:
Sewer costs can be effectively reduced but not by the landlord, only by the tenants! If tenants want their sewer costs reduced, the wisest course would be practice water conservation, and paying their total sewage cost is the only effective means of doing that, remembering the landlord must still pay for the water.
If each unit had its own water meter, and the cost fell indisputably where the cost belonged, you would be amazed how fast water conservation would become a new way of life for tenants! Why should the landlord be penalized if the tenants waste water?
How does the water consumption compare to the norm? To know this, you must know how many people are in the building, not just how many units, space has little to do with it. In my building, water now costs an average of $15 per person per month, the additional cost for sewage slightly more. Prior to separate meters, the water cost averaged $27 per person, sewage slightly more. Which demonstrates why all costs under the sole control of the tenants, both water and sewer, should be paid by the tenants.
And as a senior citizen myself, I wonder why seniors should be exempt from paying their share. If the government legislates to support qualified seniors, fine. Why should a landlord be required to support them, or their costs allocated to other tenants?
Edde Froehlich