Winder’s proposed budget for FY2011 includes new water rates that are higher than those approved just weeks ago by the city council.
On May 4, the Winder City Council approved a 7-percent increase in the monthly base charge for water service and a 15-percent increase in water usage rates.
While the proposed budget incorporates the correct base rate, it does not incorporate a flat, 15-percent increase in water usage rates.
Instead, it employs a “Lifeline Rate Alternative” rate structure developed by city consultants who recently completed a water and wastewater rate study.
Public participation was very low at the May 27 budget hearing. Photo by Susan Norman
Proposed Winder water rates higher than anticipated
Sunday, June 6. 2010
That lifeline alternative reduces the cost of the first 2,000 gallons of water used by all households but sharply increases the cost of any other water used.
Those specific rates were not approved by the city council, and based on a newspaper analysis, the budget’s new rates likely would double the financial impact of the new water rates on residents.
NEW RATES FOR CITY HOUSEHOLDS
Currently, the city government has a two-tiered rate structure – one for households inside the city limits and another with higher rates for households not in the city.
According to a “Water and Wastewater Rate & Fee Study” by Precision Planning Inc., the average local resident uses about 55 gallons of water per day.
That is significantly less than the average 69.3 gallons per capita of daily indoor water usage nationally, according to the American Water Works Association.
Nevertheless, based on the consultants’ average usage figure, the typical person uses 1,650 gallons of water every 30 days. That would mean that a four-person household uses about 6,600 gallons per month.
In line with that average monthly usage, the city’s water department currently charges a rate of $4.15 per 1,000 gallons for the first 7,000 gallons of water used and $4.99 per 1,000 gallons for all water in excess of that.
The 15-percent rate hike approved by the city council would have increased those in-town rates to $4.77 and $5.73 per 1,000 gallons.
But under the budget’s Lifeline rate structure, Winder instead will employ a three-tiered rate structure for residential users.
Households inside the city limits will pay:
•$2.39 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons used – a 42 percent drop in the current rate.
•$6.82 per 1,000 gallons for the next 5,000 gallons – a 64.3 percent jump in the $4.15 rate.
•$8.21 per 1,000 gallons for all water in excess of the initial 7,000 gallons – a 64.5 percent jump in the $4.99 rate.
With the combination of the 7-percent increase in the base rate, the lower cost for the first 2,000 gallons, and the higher costs for the next 5,000 gallons, a family of four living in Winder would pay an average of $52.36 per month for water alone.
That is about $10.71 per month or 25.7 percent more than the $41.65 per month paid now by a household using 7,000 gallons of water a month.
And it is twice the $5.22 monthly increase that would have been incurred from the rate increases approved by the city council.
NEW RATES FOR HOUSEHOLDS OUTSIDE THE CITY
Most of Winder’s residential water customers, however, reside outside the city and already pay significantly higher rates. That will continue under the rate structure in the FY2011 budget.
Currently, non-city households pay a base charge of $22.58 per month and $5.09 per 1,000 gallons for the first 7,000 gallons used, then $5.57 per 1,000 gallons for all additional water.
The city council’s 15-percent usage rate increase would have brought the rates in the existing two-tiered system to $5.85 per 1,000 gallons for the first 7,000 gallons and $6.40 per 1,000 gallons for the rest.
However, the budget includes the following rates:
•$24.16 per month for the base rate – a 7-percent increase.
•$3.10 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons used. That lifeline rate is higher than the rate recommended by the consultants who undertook the rate study. Their study recommends a lifeline rate of $2.93 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons used.
•$7.96 per 1,000 gallons for the next 5,000 gallons – a 56.3 percent jump in the current rate.
•$8.71 per 1,000 gallons for all water in excess of the initial 7,000 gallons – a 56.3 percent jump.
The budgeted rate changes mean that a family of four residing outside the city limits would pay $70.16 per month for using an average of 7,000 gallons of water.
That is $11.95 per month more than the average family of four pays under the current rate structure and about $5 more than the city council approved with a 15-percent flat increase.
BUDGET DESCRIPTIONS MISLEADING
The new rates are mentioned as one of the highlights of the city’s new budget for FY2011 and are listed in detail in a chart on page 86.
But nowhere other than in the numerical charts does the document disclose that the study’s entire “Lifeline Alternative” rate structure is being implemented for everyone.
And nowhere does the document explain how cutting everyone’s costs for the first 2,000 gallons of water will drive up the cost of all of the water other than for that minimal use.
In a letter to the mayor, council and citizens at the front of the budget document, finance director Leslie Henderson notes that for FY2011 the water and sewer service base rates have been raised by 7 percent and usage rates by 15 percent “while implementing a lifeline rate for low volume users to be affective (sic) September 1, 2010.”
Then on page 86, just above the chart of new rates, the document again notes that 7-percent and 15-percent rate hikes were approved for FY2011 by the council and adds: “The water usage rates also include a ‘Lifeline’ rate structure that will reduce the impact of the increase on low volume users and encourage water conservation…”
Moreover, not once during the city’s two public meetings about the budget – the May 17 public input session or May 27 public hearing – was it disclosed that a rate structure different than the one approved by the council is being employed.
And the lifeline rate structure was not mentioned a single time during the May 4 meeting where the council voted in the flat rate hikes.
Because the lifeline rate had been discussed at the council’s May 3 work session the prior evening but hadn’t been mentioned during the May 4 voting session, a reporter asked Mayor Chip Thompson after the vote if there would be lifeline rate to assist low-income residents.
The mayor responded that he “assumed” the lifeline rate had been included in Councilman Ridley Parrish’s motion and said “that will be part of the rate increase.”
WEAK PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
The study by Precision Planning Inc. is dated April 2010 but was not released to all of the members of the council or to the public until May 3, which was one day before the council’s adoption of the flat-rate hikes.
The study states the city would have to increase rates by 15 percent in FY2011, by 10 percent in FY2012, by 10 percent in FY2013, by 10 percent in FY2014 and by 6 percent in FY2015 in order to cover the cost of operations and capital improvements over the next five years.
That, apparently, is what the council members understood. And it was that first year of rate increases they thought they were approving.
However, the consultants in their presentation May 3 talked about a lifeline rate alternative that was more complicated.
And the study itself does point out that the lower recommended rates for the first 2,000 gallons of water for basic necessities would cause prices for the rest of a household’s water consumption to increase.
The study also states that it was the city administration’s intent all along to implement the “lifeline” rate structure.
“Based on conversation with City staff and management, and due to the significant rate increase requirement, it was recommended that the lifeline rate alternative be used for residential water customers,” the study states on page E-2. “This will help reduce the impact of the rate increase on small low/fixed income families.”
A study chart shows that after five successive years of rate hikes, usage rates inside the city in FY2015 would climb to $3.37 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons; $9.63 per 1,000 gallons for the next 5,000 gallons; and $11.58 per 1,000 gallons for additional water.
Usage rates for non-city households in FY2015 would rise to $4.14 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons; $11.23 per 1,000 gallons for the next 5,000 gallons; and $12.29 per 1,000 gallons for additional water.
Though a handful of people in the audience May 4, as well as one or two council members, asked for more time to study the proposed rate increases, the mayor
urged the council to go ahead and vote because of the pending May 17 budget deadline.
Based on the council’s vote to approve a flat 15-percent rate hike for water usage, it is apparent that no one on the council understood that he was agreeing to put into place a rate structure that would increase residential water bills by more than that.
Councilman David Maynard was the only councilman who voted against the rate hike.
Also notable is the fact that no more than five members of the public attended either of the public sessions on the budget.
City department heads were in full force for the May 17 public input session, and the mayor and entire council were on hand to hear comments May 27.
The only two residents who showed up for last week’s public hearing were a city retiree and a former resident who had been gone for more than two decades and returned to Winder three weeks ago.
The last two opportunities the public has to weigh in on the new budget are at the council work session June 7 and at the voting session June 8.
The budget, with its new water rates, is scheduled for adoption on the 8th.
Those specific rates were not approved by the city council, and based on a newspaper analysis, the budget’s new rates likely would double the financial impact of the new water rates on residents.
NEW RATES FOR CITY HOUSEHOLDS
Currently, the city government has a two-tiered rate structure – one for households inside the city limits and another with higher rates for households not in the city.
According to a “Water and Wastewater Rate & Fee Study” by Precision Planning Inc., the average local resident uses about 55 gallons of water per day.
That is significantly less than the average 69.3 gallons per capita of daily indoor water usage nationally, according to the American Water Works Association.
Nevertheless, based on the consultants’ average usage figure, the typical person uses 1,650 gallons of water every 30 days. That would mean that a four-person household uses about 6,600 gallons per month.
In line with that average monthly usage, the city’s water department currently charges a rate of $4.15 per 1,000 gallons for the first 7,000 gallons of water used and $4.99 per 1,000 gallons for all water in excess of that.
The 15-percent rate hike approved by the city council would have increased those in-town rates to $4.77 and $5.73 per 1,000 gallons.
But under the budget’s Lifeline rate structure, Winder instead will employ a three-tiered rate structure for residential users.
Households inside the city limits will pay:
•$2.39 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons used – a 42 percent drop in the current rate.
•$6.82 per 1,000 gallons for the next 5,000 gallons – a 64.3 percent jump in the $4.15 rate.
•$8.21 per 1,000 gallons for all water in excess of the initial 7,000 gallons – a 64.5 percent jump in the $4.99 rate.
With the combination of the 7-percent increase in the base rate, the lower cost for the first 2,000 gallons, and the higher costs for the next 5,000 gallons, a family of four living in Winder would pay an average of $52.36 per month for water alone.
That is about $10.71 per month or 25.7 percent more than the $41.65 per month paid now by a household using 7,000 gallons of water a month.
And it is twice the $5.22 monthly increase that would have been incurred from the rate increases approved by the city council.
NEW RATES FOR HOUSEHOLDS OUTSIDE THE CITY
Most of Winder’s residential water customers, however, reside outside the city and already pay significantly higher rates. That will continue under the rate structure in the FY2011 budget.
Currently, non-city households pay a base charge of $22.58 per month and $5.09 per 1,000 gallons for the first 7,000 gallons used, then $5.57 per 1,000 gallons for all additional water.
The city council’s 15-percent usage rate increase would have brought the rates in the existing two-tiered system to $5.85 per 1,000 gallons for the first 7,000 gallons and $6.40 per 1,000 gallons for the rest.
However, the budget includes the following rates:
•$24.16 per month for the base rate – a 7-percent increase.
•$3.10 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons used. That lifeline rate is higher than the rate recommended by the consultants who undertook the rate study. Their study recommends a lifeline rate of $2.93 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons used.
•$7.96 per 1,000 gallons for the next 5,000 gallons – a 56.3 percent jump in the current rate.
•$8.71 per 1,000 gallons for all water in excess of the initial 7,000 gallons – a 56.3 percent jump.
The budgeted rate changes mean that a family of four residing outside the city limits would pay $70.16 per month for using an average of 7,000 gallons of water.
That is $11.95 per month more than the average family of four pays under the current rate structure and about $5 more than the city council approved with a 15-percent flat increase.
BUDGET DESCRIPTIONS MISLEADING
The new rates are mentioned as one of the highlights of the city’s new budget for FY2011 and are listed in detail in a chart on page 86.
But nowhere other than in the numerical charts does the document disclose that the study’s entire “Lifeline Alternative” rate structure is being implemented for everyone.
And nowhere does the document explain how cutting everyone’s costs for the first 2,000 gallons of water will drive up the cost of all of the water other than for that minimal use.
In a letter to the mayor, council and citizens at the front of the budget document, finance director Leslie Henderson notes that for FY2011 the water and sewer service base rates have been raised by 7 percent and usage rates by 15 percent “while implementing a lifeline rate for low volume users to be affective (sic) September 1, 2010.”
Then on page 86, just above the chart of new rates, the document again notes that 7-percent and 15-percent rate hikes were approved for FY2011 by the council and adds: “The water usage rates also include a ‘Lifeline’ rate structure that will reduce the impact of the increase on low volume users and encourage water conservation…”
Moreover, not once during the city’s two public meetings about the budget – the May 17 public input session or May 27 public hearing – was it disclosed that a rate structure different than the one approved by the council is being employed.
And the lifeline rate structure was not mentioned a single time during the May 4 meeting where the council voted in the flat rate hikes.
Because the lifeline rate had been discussed at the council’s May 3 work session the prior evening but hadn’t been mentioned during the May 4 voting session, a reporter asked Mayor Chip Thompson after the vote if there would be lifeline rate to assist low-income residents.
The mayor responded that he “assumed” the lifeline rate had been included in Councilman Ridley Parrish’s motion and said “that will be part of the rate increase.”
WEAK PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
The study by Precision Planning Inc. is dated April 2010 but was not released to all of the members of the council or to the public until May 3, which was one day before the council’s adoption of the flat-rate hikes.
The study states the city would have to increase rates by 15 percent in FY2011, by 10 percent in FY2012, by 10 percent in FY2013, by 10 percent in FY2014 and by 6 percent in FY2015 in order to cover the cost of operations and capital improvements over the next five years.
That, apparently, is what the council members understood. And it was that first year of rate increases they thought they were approving.
However, the consultants in their presentation May 3 talked about a lifeline rate alternative that was more complicated.
And the study itself does point out that the lower recommended rates for the first 2,000 gallons of water for basic necessities would cause prices for the rest of a household’s water consumption to increase.
The study also states that it was the city administration’s intent all along to implement the “lifeline” rate structure.
“Based on conversation with City staff and management, and due to the significant rate increase requirement, it was recommended that the lifeline rate alternative be used for residential water customers,” the study states on page E-2. “This will help reduce the impact of the rate increase on small low/fixed income families.”
A study chart shows that after five successive years of rate hikes, usage rates inside the city in FY2015 would climb to $3.37 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons; $9.63 per 1,000 gallons for the next 5,000 gallons; and $11.58 per 1,000 gallons for additional water.
Usage rates for non-city households in FY2015 would rise to $4.14 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons; $11.23 per 1,000 gallons for the next 5,000 gallons; and $12.29 per 1,000 gallons for additional water.
Though a handful of people in the audience May 4, as well as one or two council members, asked for more time to study the proposed rate increases, the mayor
urged the council to go ahead and vote because of the pending May 17 budget deadline.
Based on the council’s vote to approve a flat 15-percent rate hike for water usage, it is apparent that no one on the council understood that he was agreeing to put into place a rate structure that would increase residential water bills by more than that.
Councilman David Maynard was the only councilman who voted against the rate hike.
Also notable is the fact that no more than five members of the public attended either of the public sessions on the budget.
City department heads were in full force for the May 17 public input session, and the mayor and entire council were on hand to hear comments May 27.
The only two residents who showed up for last week’s public hearing were a city retiree and a former resident who had been gone for more than two decades and returned to Winder three weeks ago.
The last two opportunities the public has to weigh in on the new budget are at the council work session June 7 and at the voting session June 8.
The budget, with its new water rates, is scheduled for adoption on the 8th.
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If you guys want to do a little investigation, how about looking into how Statham avoided raising property taxes for all city residents by raising water rates on city water uses and using the excess more to prop up the city's general fund? Great for large property owners and those on well water, bad for city residents that have no choice but to pay for the deadbeats.