19. Cost of Living Beyond the Mortgage

The key points

• Water comes from a private company, not the Borough. Veolia's rates are set by the State. They rose on August 1, 2026 by about $1.95 a month (3.21%) for a household using 5,000 gallons a month.²⁷²
• A bill for PFAS treatment is still ahead. Veolia asked for a surcharge to pay for treatment at the plant that serves Paramus. The State put the request off, so owners are not paying it yet.²⁷²
• Most households get no sewer bill and no garbage bill. Both are paid through the tax rate.^273, 274
• Veolia replaces lead water service lines at no cost to the homeowner.²⁷⁵
• Budget roughly $3,000 to $4,000 a year for utilities and Borough charges, before insurance and before gas delivery.

What an owner pays each year

Table 19.1 uses a four-bedroom house, a family of four and a standard 5/8" water meter.

Table 19.1. Recurring costs beyond mortgage and property tax.

Water at 5,000 gallons a month, electric, gas supply and the pool add up to $3,818 a year. That total leaves out gas delivery and insurance, the two largest missing lines. A four-bedroom house with central air will also use more than 650 kWh in summer.†

What this means for you
Plan on roughly $3,000 to $4,000 a year for utilities and Borough charges, then add insurance and gas delivery from quotes for the specific house.

Water: Veolia

Paramus does not own its water system. Water is supplied by Veolia Water New Jersey, a private company whose rates are set by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, not by the Borough Council. The system that serves Paramus serves about 807,000 people.²⁸⁵

You pay a fixed monthly charge based on meter size, a charge for each thousand gallons used, and State-approved surcharges.²⁷⁶ In its latest rate case Veolia asked for $38.6 million more in revenue. The State approved $17.5 million, less than half, effective August 1, 2026.²⁷² Your first bill dated after August 1, 2026 shows the new charges.

PFAS. New Jersey's limits are 14 parts per trillion for PFOA and 13 for PFOS.²⁸⁶ The federal rule sets 4 parts per trillion for each, with compliance due in 2029. EPA has said it would keep those limits and move the deadline to 2031, but that extension is a proposal, not a final rule.²⁸⁷ To see the measured levels in your water, read Veolia's latest Consumer Confidence Report at mywater.veolia.us and compare its PFOA and PFOS averages with those limits.

The plant that treats the water Paramus drinks will need PFAS treatment. Veolia asked the State for a surcharge to pay for it, and the State did not grant it because the cost figures were not yet available. A later request is expected.²⁷² When the cost is set, it will arrive as a new line on your bill.

Lead service lines. Veolia replaces customer-owned lead service lines "at no cost to the homeowner," and reports more than 16,000 replaced across 60 communities.^275, 288 The cost is spread across all customers through the $2.39 monthly surcharge in Table 19.1, which can rise to no more than $4.87 in any year.²⁷⁷

Of 8,029 Paramus homes with a recorded year built, 470 were built before 1940 and 3,522 from 1940 through 1959.²⁸⁹ Year built does not tell you the pipe material. Veolia's online service line map does, by address.²⁹⁰

What this means for you
Look up the address on Veolia's service line map before you make an offer. Keep your water bills, so you can see the change when a PFAS charge is added.

Sewer, garbage and recycling

Sewer. A household that uses less than 300,000 gallons of water a year gets no sewer bill. That is about 820 gallons a day, three times the larger household in Table 19.1. Below that line, sewer is paid through the tax rate. Above it, a charge applies, which a large house with heavy lawn watering on the house meter can reach.²⁷³ Ask the Borough for the amount if that describes the house.

Garbage and recycling. The Borough's Department of Public Works collects both with no separate fee.^274, 278

• Garbage is picked up twice a week: Monday and Thursday south of Midland Avenue, Tuesday and Friday north of it.
• Vegetative waste is picked up on Wednesday.
• Recycling is picked up one weekday a week. Your day is marked on your container.
• Loose leaves are collected at the curb from October 5 to November 29, 2026 only.

Collection is at the curb, in the Borough's covered containers, with no rear-yard collection.²⁷⁴ Construction debris is not collected, which matters to anyone renovating.²⁷⁸ If a holiday falls on your recycling day, that pickup is cancelled, not moved.²⁹¹ For bulk items, call the Department of Public Works.

Permit fees for common projects

Table 19.2. Common Borough permit fees.

Electrical and plumbing permits are separate, with residential minimums of $50 and $75.²⁹² A $100,000 kitchen and bath renovation carries a $2,500 building fee before those are added, so budget permits at roughly 3% of a renovation.

Paramus does not generally require a permit to remove a tree on your own developed lot, with exceptions for required buffers and wetlands. The tree between the sidewalk and the curb is the Borough's, and taking one out to widen a driveway costs $2,000.^293, 294

What this means for you
If you are selling, order the $100 Borough certificate when the contract is signed. If you are buying to renovate, add about 3% for permits.

Insurance

The New Jersey average homeowner's premium of $1,417 covers every house in the state.²⁸¹ A $2 million new-construction home insured to replacement cost will not be near it. Many Paramus homes date from the 1940s and 1950s (3,522 of 8,029 dated homes).²⁸⁹ These often have original electrical service and, in some cases, a buried heating-oil tank. Most insurers will not cover a tank for leakage, and most buyers' attorneys require a tank sweep.

Lenders require flood insurance only if the house is in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area. About 11.6% of Paramus's land is in the mapped floodplain, along the Saddle River, Sprout Brook and the other streams listed in Section 15.²⁸² The FEMA lookup by address is free.

Paramus has no train station, so there is no resident commuter parking permit to buy. Section 16 lists what other towns charge non-residents, and Section 12 has the full pool and golf rates.

What I tell my buyers: Three checks cost nothing. Look up the address on Veolia's service line map, look it up on FEMA's flood map, and ask the seller in writing whether there is or ever was an oil tank. Then read your first water bill line by line and keep it. The day a PFAS surcharge appears on it, you will want to know what the bill looked like before.

† Confirm this figure before you rely on it.

† Figures marked with a dagger are best-effort research, so verify them with the issuing office (the Borough of Paramus, the school district, the county, the state or the utility) before making judgment calls or decisions on them.