Water rates could jump 22%

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Water rates could jump 22%

Posted by

Mike Buffington

in Top Stories & Breaking News, Winder Archives

Wednesday, October 7. 2009

Comments (7)

Water rates around Barrow County may jump significantly in the near future, because the county government says it is losing money on the millions of gallons of water it sells to local governments.

Barrow County Board of Commission Chairman Danny Yearwood dropped the water bomb last week, informing the county’s mayors that he plans to renegotiate their contracts as soon as a consultant tells him what the new rate should be.

The mayors say their current contracts are good until 2012, but Yearwood said the documents allow for rate renegotiations.

Barrow County Water Department director Myron Garrett told the Barrow Journal this week that the wholesale price needs to rise to about $2.05 per 1,000 gallons, which would be 22 percent more than the average rate of $1.68 that the county’s wholesale customers paid in fiscal year 2009.

For the complete story, see the October 7 edition of the Barrow Journal.

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#1 anonymous on 10/07/09 at 02:43 PM [Reply]

Great...now I can supplement the water bill for the city of Winder residents while they enjoy no city property taxes due to the generous returns from the Winder Gas Company.....that charge outrageous rates compared to the other open market gas providers.

#1.1 MKR on 10/07/09 at 03:48 PM [Reply]

An extra $11.47 (average family) per month doesn't seem like such a drastic increase. Water is a scarce resource, after all.

It's a whole different matter if the loss of money is due to mismanagement, but I haven't heard any evidence of that.

#1.1.1 Anonymous on 10/07/09 at 05:25 PM [Reply]

The loss in money is because contracts were written to sell water for LESS than what the county paid for it.

I'd say that was mismanagement on the part of the BOC and Chairperson who signed the contracts to begin with.

Yes, something needs to be done about the rate the water is being sold for, but Yearwood needs to learn that the used car salesman approach doesn't work in the government or corporate world.

#1.1.1.1 anonymous on 10/08/09 at 05:37 AM [Reply]

Another big Thank You to Mr. Garrison (former chairman and chief executive) and Mr. Lee (former ---you fill in the blank)

#1.1.2 anonymous on 10/08/09 at 07:04 AM [Reply]

$11.47 per household is not the point. Why should the cities get a discount and the rest of the county supplement their water usage? My guess is you are a city resident or have a well.

#1.1.2.1 MKR on 10/08/09 at 08:42 AM [Reply]

Or perhaps I was explaining my perception of the matter and seeking clarification.

As you saw above, Anonymous at #1.1.1 explained the matter. I didn't know about the discount.

#2 GAM on 10/08/09 at 05:33 AM [Reply]

22%, someone had better stop letting so many people use our water at bulk prices. You fix one thing and mess up something else. It is a chain reaction and it is always the little people that have to bail y'all out.
Maybe we need to have more educated people run things and make that as a requirement to be considered for any office.
We are getting as bad as Gwinnett County. It must be time to move again to the country.

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