WARREN — Trumbull County is expected to establish a payment plan program for the 100 curb box / service connections that were placed as part of the State Road water regionalization project.

Property owners requested the curb boxes in front of their properties.

The cost to install the curb boxes was $650 per property. Residents were told the cost of the installation during public hearings in May 2024.

“Now that the installation has been done, the property can pay the $650 upfront or have it financed on their real estate taxes over 30 years,” Gary Newbrough, director of Trumbull County’s Sanitary Engineer Department, said.

The installment payment plan over a 30-year payment will result in the property owner paying $21.67 per year, plus a statutory 3% auditor / treasurer fee.

“Property owners have been given the option to pay the curb box / service connection assessment either partially or in its entirety in lieu of paying in installments,” Newbrough noted.

Commissioner Tony Bernard asked what could happen to the payments if state legislators are successful in their efforts to either reduce or eliminate property taxes.

“If this goes on and that gets passed, then we will lose the revenue from this,” Bernard said.

Commissioner Denny Malloy described conversations he had with Rep. Dave Thomas during the County Commissioners Association summer meeting, who, at that time, suggested this type of issue is a glitch they had not prepared for yet, as to what happens to assessments.

“The state is working on it,” Malloy said.

“As far as the assessments — these curb box fees and these sorts of things — a lot of the projects we are retiring are using monthly capital charges,” Newbrough said. “We would have to look at the legalities of changing this debt from special assessments to moving under capital charges.”

Newbrough said he needs the commissioners to pass the proposed resolution that will allow him to charge the assessments, so that people who want to pay upfront immediately are able to do so.

“That’s the vast majority of them,” he emphasized. “There are only going to be a few stragglers out there who are going to put it on their property taxes.”