Estimating sewer bills for tenants

[Matt M.]

Hey guys,

So one of my properties has sewer bills that run based on water usage. I do not include that in rent. This Boro’s quarterly sewer bills run 5 months behind. My current tenant is a single dad with part time kids and his sewer usage is about $10/month. He pays $15 so we can keep a little more in escrow for when he moves out and he has 5 mos of bills left. How do we estimate for the next tenant. If it’s a family of 4 or 5, it’s not going to be $10. And if they moved in tomorrow, we wouldn’t get their actual bill for 5 mos into their tenancy. My other properties we include it because it’s a fixed cost.