By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

A change in the way Allenstown residents are billed for sewer use has caused a rift between sewer officials and representatives of a local mobile home park.

The result means considerably higher bills in the second half of 2006 for Allenstown sewer users.

This year the sewer commission voted to restructure residents’ sewer bills by eliminating an annual $23 flat rate for sewer use, and instead determine bills solely by water usage.

The commission set the 2006 rate ­ of $5.78 per 1,000 gallons of water ­ on May 1.

Representatives from Holiday Acres Mobile Home Park, which has more than 300 units in central Allenstown ­ then threatened litigation against the sewer commission, arguing that sewer rates shouldn’t be set after the service period.

“Where they went wrong is they back billed to Jan. 1,” said Holiday Acres manager Sted Holton. “It was completely against the law.”

Holton likened the retroactive billing to a landlord setting a new rent charge, and billing tenants for past months at the new rent.

Allenstown Sewer Commission Chairman James Rodger said the commission regularly sets the rates retroactively, in order to reflect anticipated revenue determined when voters approve the operating budget at the March Town Meeting.

“It’s a municipal glitch we have,” said Rodger. “When the election happens, we don’t know if the budget is even going to pass.”

Rodger said that’s a billing practice common to most New Hampshire municipalities, but said the commission decided to call back the first two bills of 2006 to avoid the cost of litigation with Holiday Acres.

Instead, Allenstown residents were billed at the Dec. 31, 2005, rate.

But voters approved the operating budget this year and, in doing so, approved the generation of more sewer revenue. The average cost increase in 2006 is about $53 per sewer user, said Suncook Wastewater Superintendent Dana Clement.

That money will have to be made up in the year’s final two sewer bills.

The sewer commission announced the rate situation in a letter ­ which named Holiday Acres ­ to Allenstown’s sewer users.

Holton described the letter as slanderous.

“Most of the people I’ve talked to can’t believe the audacity of the sewer commission,” he said.

Referring to the sewer commission letter, Holton said Holiday Acres’ “side of the story” would soon come out, though he declined to elaborate.