Christina Kruzik discovered her sewer bill would rise for the third time in three years when she opened a letter sent from Brecknock Township on Thanksgiving night.

The elementary school teacher on Monday night gathered with about 60 other residents to discuss a proposed $212 annual sewer rate hike during a special township sewer authority meeting at Fivepointville Fire Company.

"I opened that letter on what was supposed to be a happy night only to find you want me to budget another $200 when I'm sacrificing so much already because of the poor economy," Kruzik said.

Fred Ebert, the engineer hired in January to manage the Northern Lancaster County Authority's sewer plant, gave a 20-minute presentation and then fielded questions from angry residents for about 75 minutes.

The board's proposed 2013 budget includes a sewer rate increase to $200 per quarter, up from $147 per quarter, to offset the cost to upgrade the township's aging sewer plant at 983 Beam Road to the state and federally mandated standards.

If the increase is approved, the annual sewer bill would jump to $800, up from $588, effective Jan. 1 Last year, rates jumped to $147 per quarter, up from $120 per quarter. In 2010 rates increased from $98 to $120 per quarter for homes and businesses that use a single EDU, or Equivalent Dwelling Unit.

The vast majority of the 16 residents who spoke at Monday's sometimes raucous meeting felt the board has not managed its finances well.

The audience was further aggravated when Ebert said rates are likely to rise, though not as significantly, every three to five years to cover increased operating expenses on 1,700 housing units — especially if there is no increased home construction in Brecknock.

"Our sewer rate is over double what other authorities around Lancaster charge," said resident Scott Garman. "Why? (Because) the money has been mismanaged."

The board said the hike is necessary to pay $6 million in debt obligations for a 20-year loan taken to upgrade the nearly 30-year-old plant. The upgrades, to meet nutrient emissions limits set by the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy, are to be in place by Sept. 30, 2013.

That loan, which will cost sewer customers about $9 million, was added to an existing $1.5 million loan taken out to upgrade the plant to comply with previous Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection requirements, Ebert said.

Board member Mel Boyd said rates are spiking also because township residents had benefited from artificially low rates for years when the authority used tapping fees to pay operating costs instead of banking that money for future capital improvement needs.

"There was a lot of building going on the last 30 years and the money coming from tapping fees, which are now $4,000, were used to offset your rates," Boyd said. "Now there's no houses being built."

Boyd said the board's first significant rate hike occurred when the authority had to borrow $2 million to comply with a state DEP order to hook up homes with failing septic systems to its public sewer system along Route 625 in Bowmansville.

Greg Kulp suggested the board has been contradictory in explaining its increased rates.

"You told me you're raising my taxes to connect additional people to the sewer, now you're telling me the exact opposite," Kulp said. "You're raising my taxes because you're not connecting more people to the system. Where's the truth?"

Many residents complained the system is unfair because the authority bills all dwellings — single-bedroom apartments, small houses and multi-room homes — at a flat rate. But Ebert said that because the township does not provide public water, it cannot easily monitor water use. And installing water meters is currently not feasible, he added.

"We discussed the idea internally of installing water meters," Ebert said. "For us to go out and put all of those meters in would cost $500,000 to $1 million."

That was little consolation to Linda Hershey, a widow living alone on a fixed income.

"I don't think an $800-a-year fee for sewer is a fair adjustment," Hershey said. "I'm by myself, yet I'm charged the same amount as a family of 12."