SAXONBURG — All residential customers of the Saxonburg Area Authority in Penn and Middlesex townships will be billed flat fees by the end of 2014.

The authority board on Monday decided to stop basing bills on meter readings from sewage customers in both townships who also receive water service.

Residential customers in both townships currently paying the metered rate of $15.50 per 1,000 gallons instead will pay the monthly flat rate of $63.84.

Customers who don’t have water service already pay the flat rate for sewage service.

The roughly 50 metered customers in Middlesex Township live in the Weatherburn Heights housing plan, which receives drinking water from the Municipal Water Authority of Adams Township.

Another nine metered customers are in Penn Township, who receive water from Pennsylvania American Water.

The SAA board also decided to make adjustments to 2012 bills of metered customers in which the amounts exceeded the flat rate.

Those customers will receive credit on their bills to make up the difference after they make a formal request and provide the authority a copy of their occupancy permit.

Any adjustments extend no further than January.

When Weatherburn resident Kathleen Schlingloff complained last month about her bill skyrocketing from $75 to $285 and then $525, the board would not budge.

Although Schlingloff attributed the increased water use to watering her new lawn, authority officials stated the billing policy didn’t allow for adjustments.

Jay Rinebolt, authority board chairman, said in an interview the policy revisions were made after discussing the issue with the 15 customers attending the meeting.

“There was give and take,” he said. “It was the authority working with the citizens to get something accomplished.”

Schlingloff was happy with the board’s reversal.

“It definitely worked it’s way out,” she said in an interview.

Rinebolt said he was willing to change the billing policy as long as the customers understood they can’t come back in several years and expect it to be switched back to meter readings if they become dissatisfied with the flat rate fee.

Metered customers in both townships have until December 2014 to switch to flat fee billing.

Authority manager Paul Cornetti said now is the time to make any changes to the billing policy affecting Weatherburn because the developer’s plan is to eventually have 300 units built.

“It’s the time to get this right,” he said.