Lesson and Question (Pittsburgh, PA)

[Michael D.]

I learned a valuable lesson recently - trust but verify.

But first, the question:
I have a 9-unit building in Millvale (Pittsburgh), PA. It has 3 separate addresses, each of which has a master water meter. Sewer and Garbage are billed with the water, for a total of $200/mo for each address or $600/mo total. Water, garbage and sewer each make up roughly 1/3 of the bill. As it stands I pay the whole thing and don't pass any on to the tenants.

Should I attempt to break these out into separate meters? I like the idea in principal that each tenant pays their own, but if I have to lower the rent an equivalent amount I might not gain much.

What do you think?

And now the lesson:
During the transaction I questioned a reported $6000/yr in utility expenses that the seller was reporting to me. He claimed they were much higher than usual, and that the "water" bill was less than $300/mo. Needless to say, that was a big mis-statement. I should have asked to see the bills, where I would have seen the truth.