Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Bosque Farms considers raises in water, sewer rates

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Bosque Farms The Village of Bosque Farms is one step closer to increasing both its water and sewer rates — something that has never been done before.

For nearly 20 years, since the village first established its own water and sewer system, residents and business owners who utilize the system have never seen an increase in their utility bills. But on Thursday, the village council approved a motion allowing for an amendment to the water and sewer service ordinance allowing for rate increases to be published.

The council will make its final decision during April's regular meeting. If approved, the rate increases could go into effect as early as June 1, said Gayle Jones, the village's clerk administrator.

Currently, customers are charged a base rate of $20 per month for water usage up to 7,000 gallons. For each 1,000 gallons over the base usage, the customer is charged $2.

Under the proposed amendment, customers would continue to be charged only the $20 per month base rate if they use no more than 5,000 gallons, but for every thousand gallons used thereafter up to 7,000 gallons, customers will have to pay an additional $3.

For each 1,000 gallons used over 7,000 gallons of water, customers will be charged $4. As a comparison, if a customer today uses 7,000 gallons per month, they are charged a total of $20. If the proposed amendment is approved next month, the same customer would pay $26.

And if a customer is paying $24 a month for using 9,000 gallons of water, they would pay, under the new rate structure, $34 per month for the same amount of water.

The sewer service rate structure will continue to be based on water usage. If a customer is not on the village water service but does have a sewer connection, they will continue to be charged the flat monthly rate of $25.

Along with the proposed increases, the amendment to the ordinance also allows for an annual cost-of-living increase. The new ordinance also says that on July 1 of each year, the minimum monthly charges shall be adjusted automatically to reflect a 2 percent cost-of-living increase.

The council has been meeting in public workshops for more than two years in an effort to figure out what would be the best formula for both the village as well as those who are paying for services. Mayor Pro Tem Robert Knowlton said during Thursday's meeting that, if the council approves the rate increase, the village would be able to save more than $735,300 in capital improvement reserves in five years.

"When we looked at the analysis, we found out that we're not putting anything into reserves for a rainy day," Knowlton told the council. "There are some things we can't go to the legislature to ask for. So what we're trying to do is balance things. We have to continue to pay our staff properly, and we have to budget properly for operations and maintenance.

"But we also have to make sure that we don't affect people negatively. And part of the notion was to encourage higher water users to conserve water a little more."

Councilor Dolly Wallace said she is in favor of encouraging water conservation with the lower water rates. She said that she is concerned that, if the village does encourage customers to conserve more, it may cause the bottom line to fall regardless of the proposed increases.

"I'm big on conserving water," Wallace said on Thursday. "And what water we do have, we need to take care of and use it wisely. On the other hand, I appreciate some of the problems that some of the businesses on the boulevard would have (with the increase). However, when we start talking about having enough in reserves, we have to look at the community as a whole."

Councilor Virgil Proctor said his concerns with the water and sewer rate increases deals with the burden it may bring on business owners who regularly use a lot of water in their everyday operations. Proctor said Bosque Farms should be competitive in its rates with surrounding municipalities.

"To me, there's a difference between a resident using 50,000 gallons of water a month and a business using 50,000 gallons," Proctor said. "There's a difference in penalizing a resident who is watering their lawn three times a day — which they're not even supposed to be doing. We need to stop them from watering their lawns, not just upping their rates."

Councilor Bill Kennedy agreed with Proctor and said the council should consider establishing a separate rate structure for businesses in the village.

"I think we need to look at high (water) users and if they're wasting water," Kennedy said. "I think that, if they need that much water, they need to look into getting an irrigation well. But with businesses, we need to be very careful — we need to look at another alternative or (establishing) a commercial rate."

Bosque Farms resident Lillie McNabb addressed the council and said she had been to many of the workshops regarding the proposed water and sewer rate increases. She said while she supports the local businesses within the village, she said both residents and commercial property owners pay the lowest rates in Valencia County.

"I think they (businesses) should pay for what they use," McNabb said. "I don't think that we, as residents, should carry the commercial businesses on our backs. Their rates need to go up just like ours."

In other action, the council: