Phillipsburg's Town Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to abandon its years-long effort to sell the town's wastewater system, choosing instead to keep municipal control of a utility that a town-commissioned evaluation says needs roughly $42 million in repairs and upgrades over the next decade.
The decision came at the council's Nov. 10 meeting following an executive session lasting roughly 50 minutes to discuss a wastewater-system contractual matter, according to TAPinto. Council members authorized Megan Sartor, one of the attorneys working with the town on the matter, to notify the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Office of the State Comptroller, New Jersey American Water and Aqua New Jersey that Phillipsburg was abandoning the sale process under the state's Water Infrastructure Protection Act, which allows qualifying municipalities to sell water or wastewater systems through a regulated process.
Council member Keith Kennedy said past council members and mayors had advised him not to sell the wastewater system, per the same TAPinto account. The town had been exploring a potential sale for nearly four years, dating back to 2023 when it first intended to pursue a sale under either the infrastructure protection act or New Jersey's referendum law.
A Years-Long Process That Narrowed to Two Bidders
The town council approved Resolution 2023-28 in February 2023, authorizing up to $250,000 for legal services tied to the proposed transaction, and agreed to pay the law firm Hawkins, Delafield & Wood LLP $450 per hour for its work. Rick Sapir and Megan Sartor served as the primary attorneys working with Phillipsburg throughout the process.
In October 2025, the NJDEP approved the town's certification of certain emergent conditions under the infrastructure protection act, and by February 2026 the council had authorized soliciting qualifications and purchase proposals from interested companies. New Jersey American Water, Aqua New Jersey and Natural Systems Utilities all submitted statements of qualifications, with qualification statements due by July 8.
Purchase proposals were initially due Sept. 2 but the deadline was extended to Sept. 23 at 10 a.m. By Nov. 9, the town had identified New Jersey American Water and Aqua New Jersey as the remaining bidders, after Natural Systems Utilities chose not to submit a purchase proposal.
What the Town Isn't Disclosing
Phillipsburg has withheld purchase proposals, bid evaluations, scoring sheets and purchaser recommendations, describing the records as deliberative, and the town has not disclosed any potential purchase prices, rate-stabilization provisions or capital-investment commitments from prospective buyers tied to the now-abandoned process.
What is public is the scale of the infrastructure problem the town is now keeping for itself. A Phoenix Advisors evaluation dated April 30, 2025, found that the 10-year capital plan for the wastewater system totals approximately $42 million, according to the report posted on phillipsburgnj.org. That figure breaks down into roughly $14 million in near-term sewer-line repairs and about $28 million in additional projects expected over the following decade.
Debt, Rates and a System Serving Thousands
The wastewater system serves approximately 35,000 people across Phillipsburg and portions of Lopatcong, Pohatcong, Greenwich and Alpha, per the TAPinto report, though the town evaluation separately put the number of billed customers at approximately 5,400, a figure the report described as preliminary and subject to change. The system itself consists of about 70 miles of wastewater collection lines, three pump stations and one treatment plant on South Main Street.
The town's evaluation cited $9.7 million in utility debt and about $11 million in general capital debt. Any sale proceeds would have had to first retire bonds issued for the system and other outstanding liabilities tied to it, per the same evaluation, with the town separately noting that proceeds could also have been used to pay down existing sewer-utility debt and reduce some outstanding general debt.
Ratepayers have already felt the pressure of deferred maintenance. A four-year rate-increase plan approved in 2022 was projected to raise a residential customer's quarterly flat fee from $15 in 2021 to $35 in 2025, and the evaluation's scenario using New Jersey Infrastructure Bank financing projected the average ratepayer's monthly bill climbing from $31 today to $51 by 2035.
What a Sale Might Have Fetched
An estimate put the system's potential sale price at approximately $17 million to $21 million. A July 2025 financial report cited by lehighvalleylive.com pegged a potential sale at approximately $21 million, around the same time the outlet reported the town was allocating only about $100,000 annually for routine maintenance and repairs.
The sale also raised questions about future rates. Council members voted unanimously to keep the utility in public hands.
What Comes Next
With the sale process abandoned, Phillipsburg now intends to retain ownership of its wastewater system and must determine how to finance the infrastructure improvements the evaluation says are needed. The town will need to fund tens of millions of dollars in repairs without proceeds from a sale.
