Onondaga County sewer unit charge rises to $490.28 in 2027 budget, up $13.70 per unit

Onondaga County’s proposed sewer unit charge for 2027 is $490.28 per unit, up $13.70, or 2.87 percent, from the $476.58 adopted for 2026. A single-family house connected to county sewers is one unit, so that is the increase on its January 2027 county tax bill. Total sewer billings in the Consolidated Sanitary District rise 9.34 percent, to $105,843,351, according to page 2-23 of the 2027 Executive Budget’s Fiscal Summary.

Why it matters: this is the county charge that goes up in a budget whose headline is a 9.1 percent cut in the property tax rate. For a home with a full value of about $184,000, the sewer unit charge equals the entire county property tax at the proposed rate of $2.67 per $1,000. CNY Signal calculated that from the two rates; it leaves out town, school and special district taxes.

Who pays the Onondaga County sewer unit charge?

The charge applies to properties in the Onondaga County Consolidated Sanitary District that are connected to public sewers. The county’s 2027-2032 Capital Improvement Plan says the district serves the City of Syracuse and all or portions of the towns of Camillus, Cicero, Clay, DeWitt, Geddes, Lysander, Manlius, Onondaga, Pompey, Salina and Van Buren, plus the villages of Marcellus, Camillus, East Syracuse, Fayetteville, Liverpool, North Syracuse, Solvay and Manlius (CIP page 20). The Department of Water Environment Protection (WEP) says it serves more than 88,500 properties.

The towns of Elbridge, Fabius, LaFayette, Marcellus, Otisco, Skaneateles, Spafford and Tully are not on that list, though the Village of Marcellus is. Being inside the lines does not by itself mean a property is billed. WEP’s service area page says “location within the CSD does not alone determine whether you property is currently or can be serviced by the public sewers,” and its billing page says “Properties using private septic systems aren’t billed.”

The charge is a line on the Onondaga County real property tax bill, levied on or about December 27 and due January 31 (Fiscal Summary page 2-22; WEP billing page). WEP notes that municipalities may add their own fees for local sewer systems.

What is a sewer unit, and why “per household” is not “per home”

The budget’s Fund Breakdown on page 2-12 labels the $490.28 figure “Sewer Unit Charge per Household”: $105.8 million in sewer charges divided by 215.9 thousand units. Units are assigned by property type under the schedule the Legislature adopted on October 14, 2025, reproduced on page 2-23:

– Single family structure, mobile home, townhouse and condominium: one unit each.
– All other multi-family residential structures: three-fourths unit per family.
– Commercial, industrial and institutional properties: units based on water bills, with up to 85,000 gallons a year counting as one unit and “one unit and fraction thereof for each 85,000 gallons per year” above that.
– Mixed-use properties: three-fourths unit per family plus one unit for the commercial space, or a water-based count if that is higher.

So the owner of a single-family house pays exactly one unit, $490.28, up $13.70 from 2026. A four-family apartment building carries three units, $1,470.84, up $41.10, billed to the parcel owner.

Why is the number of units rising?

The budget proposes to redefine a unit from 85,000 gallons to 70,000 gallons a year, effective January 1, 2027 (page 2-23). A unit was 137,000 gallons in 2017 and 146,000 gallons in the original 1978 schedule, according to the budget and the Legislature’s hearing notice.

Fewer gallons per unit means more units for any property billed on water use. A property metered at 850,000 gallons a year is 10 units under the 2026 schedule and about 12.1 under the proposed one. For a metered property whose water use does not change, the unit count rises about 21 percent and the rate 2.87 percent, so the bill rises about 25 percent. CNY Signal calculated those figures from the schedule.

The budget pairs the two changes in its explanation of the sewer revenue line on page 2-26: “The unit charge will increase from 2026 Adopted at $476.58/unit to $490.28/unit. The 2027 budget proposes the continued shift to reduce gallons per unit from 85,000 to 70,000.” Units billed rise 6.28 percent, from 203,126 to 215,883 (page 2-23). The budget does not say how much of that is the redefinition and how much is new connections.

Sewer unit charge, 2022 to 2027

Source: Fiscal Summary page 2-23. From 2022 to 2027 the per-unit charge rose 8.5 percent, units billed 11.1 percent and total billings 20.5 percent (CNY Signal calculations).

What does the county say is driving the increase?

Spending in the Water Environment Protection fund rises $7.2 million, or 6.1 percent, to $124,243,799 (page 2-25). The budget’s explanation on page 2-26 cites employee benefits, up $2.6 million “based on actual trend” while wages stay flat; debt service, up $3.9 million to $39.5 million “due to scheduled debt increase”; higher interdepartmental charges; and $1.8 million in “rate increases on electricity, inflation on equipment replacement parts and professional services.”

Billings rise faster than spending, 9.34 percent against 6.1 percent, because the county plans to draw $4.3 million from the fund’s balance in 2027 instead of the $7.9 million budgeted for 2026 (page 2-25). CNY Signal calculated that comparison from the fund table.

Nothing in the budget’s sewer pages attributes the increase to the Oak Orchard treatment plant expansion in Clay or to Micron, and the word Micron does not appear in the 426-page budget book; CNY Signal searched the full text. The Oak Orchard Municipal Expansion is in the capital plan at $515 million over 2027 to 2032, with $75 million in bonds scheduled for 2027 and a total project cost of $549.5 million, described as “necessary for the development of the White Pine Business Park and other economic development opportunities” (CIP page 178). The “scheduled debt increase” line does not name projects. Separately, the Legislature voted 15 to 2 on March 3, 2026 to create an Oak Orchard Industrial Sewer District inside the Consolidated Sanitary District; WEP’s report on that district says its formation has “no monetary component or impact to existing users within the Consolidated Sanitary District.”

When are the hearings?

– Thursday, October 1, 2026, 5:00 p.m.: Ways and Means Committee public hearing on the proposed 2027 county budget, capital program and budget message. Legislative Chambers, Room 407, Onondaga County Courthouse, 401 Montgomery Street, Syracuse. Written comment to [email protected], subject line “10.1.26 Public Hearing,” until 11:59 p.m. October 1.
– Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 12:50 p.m.: County Legislature public hearing on “the proposed adoption of an amended schedule of sewer rents for the Onondaga County Sanitary District and the Report of the Commissioner of Water Environment Protection dated August 27, 2026.” Same chambers. Written comment, subject line “10.6.26 Public Hearing,” until 11:59 p.m. October 6. The full session on the budget follows at 1:00 p.m.

Whatever the Legislature adopts will appear on county tax bills issued on or about December 27, 2026 and due January 31, 2027.