Q May a municipality charge and collect a fee for sewer service to customers within the municipality who are not connected to the municipal sewer system and continue to use private sewage disposal systems?

A A municipality is authorized to enact an ordinance which imposes a sewer surcharge on it residents, regardless of whether the resident is connected to the municipal sewer system or not. According to the Mississippi Supreme Court (Lepre v. D’Iberville Water and Sewer District, 376 So.2d 191 (Miss. 1979)), this is based on the fact that all municipal residents benefit from the establishment of a utility system. (Attorney General’s Opinions to Manley, February 6, 2015)