Summer Orchard Homeowners

Lexington, South Carolina

August 1, 2025

To:
Jay Nicholson, General Manager
Joint Municipal Water and Sewer Commission

Subject: Demand for Immediate Sewer Billing Reform in Summer Orchard

Dear Mr. Nicholson and Members of the Commission,

We, the undersigned homeowners of the Summer Orchard subdivision in Lexington, write to express our growing frustration and concern over the current flat-rate sewer billing model imposed by the Joint Municipal Water and Sewer Commission (JMWSC). This billing method — charging every household for 10,000 gallons of sewer usage per month, regardless of actual consumption — is fundamentally inequitable, financially burdensome, and structurally flawed.

Our homes are being billed at a fixed monthly amount of $97.21, whether we use 2,000 gallons or 9,999 gallons. This model disproportionately affects smaller households, single occupants, retirees, and conservation-minded families — many of whom are overpaying by significant margins every month.

Here are just a few examples from within our neighborhood:

1. A family of two used 6,507 gallons last month and paid $54.57 for water — but their sewer bill was still $97.21.
2. A family of three reported a $29 water bill yet still received the same flat-rate sewer charge.
3. A single resident used 2,420 gallons, with a $31 water bill — but was billed as if they had used more than four times that amount.

These are not outliers. They are representative of how deeply flawed this model has become.

To make matters worse, this billing model was not disclosed during the homebuying process. It appears in neither our purchase contracts, HOA bylaws, nor any documentation provided by the builder, Stanley Martin Homes. Residents only learned of this structure after closing, when the first sewer bills arrived — well after the opportunity to make informed financial decisions had passed.

We acknowledge that JMWSC is now working with Gilbert Summit Rural Water District (GSRWD) to test a file-sharing agreement that could enable usage-based billing in the future. But as of today, there is no timeline, and in the meantime, residents are being told their only recourse is to pay $700 for a separate sewer meter, plus a monthly maintenance fee of $10.97, just to be billed fairly.

And to be clear — this all comes after a rate increase that took effect on July 1, 2025.

The current structure punishes low-usage households, provides no incentive for conservation, and forces residents to absorb the financial impact of poor planning and a lack of coordination between agencies prior to development.

We therefore call on JMWSC to take immediate corrective action by:

We’re asking for three things:

1. A clear, public implementation timeline for volumetric billing based on existing Gilbert Summit meters.
2. Subsidy or waiver of the sewer meter installation and maintenance costs for residents who wish to opt in now.
3. A formal acknowledgment that the current structure is inequitable — and that homeowners should not bear the financial burden of a delayed coordination plan between agencies.

This is not just a billing issue. It is a matter of fairness, transparency, and responsible governance. We are ready to work with the Commission toward a solution — but we will not continue paying for water we did not use, under a model we were never informed of, without meaningful reform.

We respectfully request a written public response to this letter no later than August 20, 2025.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned Residents of Summer Orchard