A typical household will pay about $79 more annually at unchanged use, while most of the authority’s identified PFAS spending remains in a future capital plan.
MORRISTOWN, NJ – Residential water rates charged by the Southeast Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority rose 10% on Jan. 1, adding about $79.20 a year to the bill of a typical household using the same amount of water.
The increase applies across Morristown, Morris Township, Morris Plains and Hanover, along with portions of neighboring municipalities served by SMCMUA. It comes as the authority’s adopted 2026 budget identifies $18.2 million in PFAS-related design and construction work between 2027 and 2030.
That $18.2 million is a multiyear planning estimate. It is not part of the authority’s adopted 2026 capital appropriation. A separate engineering contract worth up to $1.7 million, including a $170,930 amendment approved in May, is a funded commitment.
What the increase means for a household
SMCMUA says a typical residence uses 30 hundred cubic feet, or about 22,500 gallons, during each quarterly billing period.
For a home with a standard 5/8-inch meter, the consumption rate rose from $5.376 to $5.913 per hundred cubic feet, while the quarterly facilities charge increased from $36.94 to $40.63, according to the authority’s 2025 rate notice and current rate schedule.
At 30 units per quarter:
- The 2025 bill was $198.22 per quarter, or $792.88 annually.
- The 2026 bill is $218.02 per quarter, or $872.08 annually.
- The difference is $19.80 per quarter and $79.20 per year.
The calculation assumes unchanged consumption and a 5/8-inch meter. Larger meters carry higher fixed charges.
Commercial rates rose 9%, while the authority listed 10% increases for its residential and other customer classes.
Operating costs, rather than PFAS construction, drove the 2026 budget increase
SMCMUA’s total operating appropriations rose $2.15 million, or 10.7%, to $22.34 million. Its renewal and replacement reserve declined by $536,000, leaving total appropriations of $24.81 million, a 7% increase over 2025.
The largest identifiable operating increases were:
- Employee salaries and benefits: a net increase of $909,593
- Treatment chemicals, equipment and maintenance: $328,500
- Energy and fuel: $301,100
- Purchased water: $203,900
- Information technology, support and telephone services: $183,700
- Finance, administration and customer service: $92,300
The budget attributes the benefit increases largely to State Health Benefits Program premiums. It cites higher chemical costs, greater energy and fuel expenses, cybersecurity and control-system spending, and anticipated recruitment services for engineering staff.
The published budget does not calculate what portion of the residential rate increase is attributable to PFAS. The $18.2 million PFAS schedule sits in the authority’s future capital plan, while the current rate increase supports the authority’s finances as a whole.
The $18.2 million is scheduled for later years
SMCMUA’s six-year capital plan totals about $87.2 million. Its PFAS entries consist of:
- $1.2 million for Wing and Todd construction in 2027
- $2 million for Black Brook construction in 2027
- $6 million for design and permitting at “the next two” smaller treatment plants, spread across 2027 through 2029
- $9 million for unidentified future PFAS construction between 2028 and 2030
None of those four entries appears in the adopted $16.79 million 2026 capital appropriation.
They are capital-plan estimates that will require future budgets, contracts and board approvals before becoming construction commitments. The plan does not identify the two smaller plants or the sites covered by the $9 million future-construction allowance.
Engineering work is already funded
On May 21, the authority increased its PFAS engineering contract with Jacobs Engineering Group by $170,930, from $1,526,711 to $1,697,641, according to the meeting records and Resolution 50-26.
The amendment includes:
- $86,400 for flood-hazard analysis affecting proposed facilities at the Wing and Todd site
- $84,530 for similar work needed before treatment facilities can be located and designed at the Magyar site
The amendment is charged to a funded 2026 capital account. Jacobs’ broader contract covers evaluation, design, permitting, bidding and financial-services assistance.
Earlier August 2025 board records show that Jacobs was directed to proceed with a treatment design using granular activated carbon for PFAS removal, without adding a water-softening process.
Which sites showed PFAS?
SMCMUA’s capital and engineering records specifically identify Wing/Todd, Black Brook and Magyar for work. Federal monitoring data also show PFAS detections at Lidgerwood, which is not separately identified in the capital plan.
The following are single entry-point measurements from August 2023 in EPA’s Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule data, filtered for public water system NJ1424001:
| Treatment site | Work identified in SMCMUA records | August 2023 result |
|---|---|---|
| Wing and Todd | $1.2 million construction estimate; active flood analysis | Wing PFOA: 5.4 ppt; Todd PFOS: 5.0 ppt |
| Black Brook | $2 million construction estimate | PFOA: 8.3 ppt |
| Magyar | Active treatment siting and flood analysis; no site-specific construction total | PFOA: 12.1 ppt |
| Lidgerwood | Not separately named in the PFAS capital entries | PFOA: 10.9 ppt; PFOS: 5.6 ppt |
These measurements exceed the federal rule’s 4-parts-per-trillion numerical limits for PFOA and PFOS. They do not, by themselves, establish a regulatory violation. EPA determines compliance through required monitoring and running annual averages, and the current federal compliance deadline is April 26, 2029. EPA has proposed allowing eligible systems additional time, but that extension was not final as of Aug. 3.
SMCMUA’s 2025 annual water-quality report reported compliance with the New Jersey PFAS standards then in effect. Those state limits, 14 ppt for PFOA and 13 ppt for PFOS, are higher than the federal limits that are driving the new treatment work.
Settlement proceeds could offset part of the cost
SMCMUA has already begun receiving money from chemical-manufacturer settlements.
At its Sept. 18, 2025, meeting, authority officials reported:
- A first 3M payment of approximately $875,194 had been received.
- A second 3M payment of about $1.68 million was expected in October.
- Additional payments were expected through 2033.
- Authority counsel estimated approximately $10 million from the 3M and DuPont settlements.
- Award determinations for BASF and Tyco remained pending.
- A 25% contingency legal fee is withheld from settlement proceeds.
The September record describes the second payment as expected and does not confirm its later receipt. It also does not specify whether the $10 million estimate is before or after all future legal fees.
Arithmetically, $10 million equals about 55% of the $18.2 million PFAS capital schedule. That is not a documented offset, however. The budget does not earmark the settlement money for those four PFAS entries, and the authority has said its eventual PFAS costs could exceed the proceeds.
The capital funding table assigns all four PFAS estimates to unrestricted net position and lists no debt authorization, capital grant or other source for them. No specific grant or subsidized loan award is identified. During the December rate hearing, SMCMUA’s chief financial officer said future regulatory treatment projects would likely require bond financing, according to the hearing and adoption record.
The documents therefore establish the current household cost and the funded engineering contract. They leave unresolved which plants are covered by the unnamed $15 million in future design and construction entries, how the estimates were developed, how settlement proceeds will be allocated and how much future borrowing could add to customer bills.