It won’t cost Summit County sewer customers any more money next year to relieve themselves.The county has decided not to raise sewer rates, putting off a major rate study — used to determine future increases — until next year. That means any hike won’t take effect until 2013.“Our revenue model is showing that we can [go without],” said Jason Dodson, chief of staff for County Executive Russ Pry. “Why go out for an increase when one isn’t needed?”That’s good news for the county’s estimated 45,000 sewer customers. But those customers still might see a rate adjustment next year.The county’s Department of Environmental Services has fielded complaints for years over the fairness of its flat rate versus metered rate. The county charges customers based on the amount of water they use, but folks who have wells, which aren’t metered, pay a flat rate of $62 a month.County leaders admit that flat-rate customers are paying, in most cases, more than their fair share, especially if there are only a few people living at the residence.In some cases, customers have seen a 30 percent drop in their bills when they have gone from a flat rate to a metered rate, said Michael Weant, deputy director at the Department of Environmental Services.About half of the county customers pay a flat rate.The county has hired Red Oak Consulting, a White Plains, N.Y., firm, to analyze how other communities handle the issue and hopes to have that report in hand by the end of the year.If the study shows that flat-rate customers are paying too much, the rate might be lowered. But if the flat rate is lowered, then the metered rate would rise, because the department needs a certain amount of revenue to operate, officials said.Flat-rate feeHudson resident John Hornke, who lives alone, has a well and pays the flat rate. He said there has to be a fairer way to handle the flat-rate fee, perhaps by having different flat rates based on the number of people living at a residence or the square footage of the home.For example, he questioned why he is charged the same rate as a household with four or five people, who use more water.“This has been going on for how many years?” Hornke asked. “I’ve been overpaying for 22 years. So where’s the equity in that?”The county also is studying another issue related to rates.When customers flush, they aren’t all sending their waste to the same treatment plant because — as the crude saying goes — waste flows downhill. Some of it goes to county plants, while some goes to plants run by Akron, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Stark County or even Portage County.When those other sewer districts raise rates, the county gets an overall bill. Instead of passing along the cost to the customers whose waste flows to that district, the county spreads the increase over its entire customer base.The county is evaluating whether it’s fair to have a customer in Green, for example, pay for a rate increase affecting sewer customers in the northern portion of the county, Weant said.“We’re just looking for equity,” he said. “We want to be fair, and we want to be treated fair.”Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.