Staff
Water and sewer bills will be going up here in the new year.
Town council approved the new rates at its regular meeting Monday night, including a 2.6 percent increase across the board.
This will mean residents’ water and sewer bills will go up $2.02 per month.
They will go from paying $931.93 per year in 2017 to $956.16 a year in 2018–a difference of $24.24 in all.
The 2.6 percent increase also will apply to non-residential customers’ volumetric rate, the volumetric rate for industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) customers, the ICI minimum monthly rate, and the water rate for fire hydrants and sprinklers.
The reason for the increase is the town has to raise more revenue to be able to fix the town’s aging pipes.
This year, the town had forecasted $5,134,134.60 to be collected from water and sanitary sewer user fees.
But the actual amount collected as of Sept. 30, and projected forward to Dec. 31, is just $5,102,320.50–a shortfall in actual revenue of $31,814.10.
In 2018, the 2.6 percent increase is estimated to yield an additional $109,604.21 in revenue compared to the 2017 forecasted revenue.
Based on the most recent inflow and infiltration (I&I) investigation study done on municipal water and sewer infrastructure, the town has 5.703 km of sanitary sewer lines which need to be addressed in the next five years based on the substandard condition of the existing piping.
The cost to complete this work is estimated at $32 million, “where affordability for the community will be a major obstacle,” noted Operations and Facilities manager Travis Rob.
