The ongoing dispute about the rates for the city of Warren to treat sanitary sewer waste has come to a resolution through mediation. The mayor of Warren and Trumbull County commissioners agreed to concessions by both sides, as well as an increase for residents living in the Trumbull County Metropolitan Sewer District.

A judge had told the two sides to go to mediation and not leave until a deal had been worked out.

The exact amount of the increase is not yet established since the county needs to perform a rate study.

Prior to the mediation, Trumbull County was paying 30 percent of the rate that Warren residents paid individually for waste treatment. The county said it was willing to go up to 60 percent, but the city wanted the county to pay 150 percent of the residential rate.

Ultimately, the compromise resulted in the county agreeing to pay 75 percent of what Warrant residents pay over the next decade.

This could result in residents seeing a 20 percent increase in their sewer bill, which is expected to be spread over the cost of the entire district, instead of only on the customers directly affected. The last rate increase occurred in 2013. The average bill in the district is about $40 right now.

The bill for the county will be about $1.5 million per year more.

Officials are working on a way to reduce the amount of inflow and infiltration in the system, which is” is water that ends up in the treatment plant that does not even need treated. This water gets into the system because of spouts and footer drains in older homes.