Customers of the Binghamton-Johnson City Joint Sewage Treatment Plant are asking a $10.3 million question: Where's my money going?

In one year -- from 2008 to 2009 -- the plant's budget has jumped from $6.6 million to $10.3 million, a 56 percent increase. As a result, residents and business owners across Broome County are facing rising sewage rates -- from a 17 percent hike in Vestal to nearly 40 percent in Binghamton.

The answer to the customers' question is complex, but it can be summarized this way: Much of the increase is needed to comply with environmental regulations related to the Susquehanna River and, by extension, the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Other increases will help update the plant, a sprawling 50-year-old facility built long before the explosion of the Vestal Parkway, the expansion of Binghamton Uni-versity or many of today's stringent safety regulations for employees.

Plant Superintendent Catherine Aingworth said many of the upgrades were basic, needed to maintain and improve a plant that is at the tail end of a massive upgrade.

"We have this beautiful new facility ... a $68 million investment," she said. "We want to make sure we protect it and that it doesn't burn to the ground because we didn't put a sprinkler in."

It's likely that every customer of the plant, which serves 10 municipalities and Binghamton University, will pay significantly more for sewage service this year. Ratepayers and local government leaders -- who don't have much, if any, say in plant operations -- are left with a tough pill to swallow.

"When you end up getting such sharp increases, it makes you wonder what the hell is going on," said Michael Marinaccio, Town of Dickinson supervisor, where rates are expected to go up 20 percent.

Sewage rates -- which are set by your town, village or city government -- pay for operations at the plant, maintenance of sewer lines in each municipality, and debt service. The plant's budget makes up between 30 and 48 percent of your total sewage bill, depending on where you live.

Although the fees the plant is charging municipalities will increase 52 percent this year, there is some good news: the increase that is passed on to you will be less than that.

Paying for clean water

So, why the jump?

The plant is in the final stages of its $68 million upgrade intended to substantially decrease the amount of carbon and nitrogen in the water being discharged into the Susquehanna River -- and eventually the Chesapeake Bay. But the state has placed new, even tougher restrictions on the amount of nitrogen that can be dumped into the river.

Starting in February, the plant will be required to discharge two-thirds less nitrogen per liter of water -- from 18 milliliters per gallon down to 6. To do that, the plant will have to use methanol, a chemical both volatile and expensive.

Of the $2.2 million budgeted for all chemicals in 2009, $1.3 million of it is for methanol -- three times more than the $400,000 that was budgeted for chemicals in 2008. Overall, the plant is looking at a $1.8 million increase for chemicals.

Now here's another frustration for ratepayers: the price of methanol has dropped substantially since the sewage board put together its budget in July -- it's now about $1.30 per gallon, down from $6, Aingworth said. But the budget is based on the summertime rate, so the higher amount will still be collected from ratepayers. Municipalities get a refund if the plant collects more money than it needs, a fairly common occurrence, Aingworth said. It's up to the municipalities to determine how the ratepayers get their money back.

There's one other methanol issue that must be resolved. Before the plant can start using the chemical, the Town of Vestal -- where the plant is located -- has to issue a permit. A January 2008 letter from Vestal Fire Inspector Christopher S. Lupold to the plant's board listed 21 items that needed to be addressed before the town would issue the permit. Last month, that list had been whittled down to nine items, including supplying the town fire department with a foam trailer for potential fire emergencies, at a cost of at least $94,000.

Time is not on the sewage plant's side. The plant has to start using methanol by Feb. 1 -- the date the DEC will start measuring the nitrogen levels in the water being discharged into the river. If the plant doesn't meet environmental requirements by the end of that month, it could be fined $125,000 -- barring an extension -- and other fines could follow.

Then there's the plant's third digester, used in the process of breaking down sewage. It originally was scheduled to be completed in August 2008. It's now tentatively scheduled to go online in June, said Edward Crumb, incoming sewage board chairman. Not having the digester running means the plant can't handle all of the sewage that flows to it, so it has to be trucked to the landfill at a cost of about $38,000 in chemicals and tipping fees each month, plant officials estimate.

Capital projects add $1M

There are other new expenses, too. Capital projects account for $1 million in spending increases and more than 13 percent of the total budget. Much of that is aimed at improving safety for workers.

"I don't think the general public understands the extremely hazardous nature of working here," Aingworth said. "By the grace of God, we didn't have accidents here."

To that end, hundreds of thousands of dollars will be spent on improvements to ventilation systems and fire safety improvements.

In addition, the plant was ordered by the DEC to study -- and reduce -- the amount of flow coming through the facility. To comply with the DEC's consent order, $530,000 has been budgeted in 2009 for a flow-management plan.

Other significant budget additions include:

* A $135,000 awareness campaign to educate the public and restaurant owners about the importance of limiting the amount of fats, oils and greases that go into their drains.

* Three new jobs -- although four are being cut for a net savings of about $25,000.

* A $2,000-per-member increase in the stipend paid to sewage board members for attending meetings. The cap on those payments will increase to $6,000, from last year's $4,000 and add $12,000 to the budget. It's a relatively meager sum that nevertheless was met with predictable discontent from ratepayers and government officials. But because neither of the plant's owners -- Bingham-ton owns about 55 percent of the plant, Johnson City the remaining 45 -- can control spending other than capital projects, the increase stood.

Other capital funds were shuttered by the Binghamton City Council and Johnson City village trustees. The owners canceled funds for a new roof to replace a 30-year-old roof, and some money to renovate cramped, often-flooded training and locker rooms. The roof will still go through with money left from 2008, Aingworth said, but the other renovations will have to wait.