Utility rates increasing in Belen

BELEN — Anyone who waters their lawn, takes a shower, washes their clothes, dishes and vehicles, and flushes their toilets in the city of Belen will now pay more for those city services.

The Belen City Council unanimously approved a water and sewer rate increases at the July 15 regular business meeting.

City residents will now pay an additional 4 percent for water (0-3,000 gallons per month), and 4.2 percent more for sewer.

Belen City Manager Roseann Peralta explained the sewer rate changed from the number of gallons used from 0-3,000 to 0-2,000 (which is calculated by the average number of gallons of water used in the winter months). Peralta said this rate will help those who don’t use as much water.

Residents utilizing city water services but live outside the city limits will also experience higher rate increases — 5 percent more for water (0-3,000 gallons) and 4.2 percent for sewer (0-2,000 gallons).

Commercial users in the city will pay a 4 percent increase for water (0-3,000 gallons), and 4.2 percent for sewer (0-2,000 gallons.)

Those businesses outside the city limits will pay an additional 5 percent for water, and 4.2 percent extra for sewer.

Molzen Corbin, one of the city’s engineering firms, recently completed a commissioned utility rate study, and recommended the increases.

Jonah Ruybalid, with Molzen Corbin, told the council in June the study considered operating the system “in the black” and reduce operating losses, build the fund for future repairs and build stronger reserves to “match” funding from federal and state programs.

“Unfortunately, no scenario accomplishes the city’s goals while preventing the shock of large increases in rates over the near future,” Ruybalid said.

Peralta also explained while there is a lot of money “out there” for road projects, the city has aging infrastructure. The water and sewer lines underneath the roads are in need of repair or need to be replaced before any road work is started.

“Once you start digging up that road, we need to start taking care of the water and sewer lines,” Peralta said. “You can have a brand new road, but in a few weeks, we’ll need to cut a hole in it because of a water break. That’s why we need the additional funds.”

The new water and sewer rates are reflected in the bills sent out in August for the month of July.

During the July 15 meeting, the city councilors and the mayor said while they didn’t want to increase the utility rates, it is necessary.

“I want you to know this pains me, but I know the need of the city,” said Councilor Frank Ortega. “I did advocate a while back for an increase at the time. I’ve taken tours, I’ve seen the aging infrastructure ... We need to take care of it right away. I’ve been around for a while, and I know the water lines haven’t been improved for a long time.”

Ortega said this is “something that’s a must that we have to do for our infrastructure, for our wastewater and our water lines.”

Councilor Steve Holdman agreed, saying while the rates increase every July, the updates to the system have not been done.

“Unfortunately, for years, there weren’t updates to the system, so, of course, we have to do this,” Holdman said. “When I first took office, I thought we were going to have to replace the whole wastewater treatment plant, but they are refurbishing and reconditioning it. It’s less money than the $40-$50 million that we thought it was going to be, but we still need $11 million.”

Belen Mayor Robert Noblin said when he first ran for election for a city council seat years ago, everyone said the city needed to fix the aging infrastructure.

“I thought, ‘shame on these old councils who didn’t fix the aging infrastructure,’” Noblin said. “Honestly, what we learned in the workshop is 78 percent of U.S. municipalities are looking at rate increases like we are.

“This is not just a Belen problem; it’s not just a county problem; it’s not just a New Mexico problem,” Noblin said. “Infrastructure is a problem across the nation, and it’s difficult to do these things.”

Councilor Rudy Espinoza said when he was campaigning for office, he admitted he was ignorant about the infrastructure and advocated for not increasing the utility rates. It wasn’t until he became educated by the engineering firm that he realized the need for the increase.

“This isn’t something I wanted to do; I don’t want to pay extra,” Espinoza said. “But I see this is something we need to do. I just hope the community knows we have their best interest at heart. For us not to do it, we would be a council who neglected it 10 years from now.”

“This is not something I want to do, but it’s something that has to be done,” said Councilor Tracy Armijo. “I don’t want my bill to increase; however, I understand why it’s going to be increased, and I hope everyone can understand that as well.”

During the public hearing portion of the meeting, former Belen mayor Jerah Cordova told the council that because Molzen Corbin is the city’s engineering firm, they would be profiting from the rate increase.

“That money is going to go to Molzen Corbin,” Cordova claimed. “That is a significant conflict of interest. They engineer city projects. They engineer water and sewer projects, and they’re saying we need to raise rates. It’s unacceptable.”

Immediately after his comments, Cordova left the council chambers before waiting for the council’s decision or an explanation.

“Apparently, he doesn’t care enough to know the answer,” said Peralta. “I will make this statement ... that Bohannan Huston (another Albuquerque engineering firm) is the engineer for the wastewater treatment plant. Also, Bohannan Huston is working on our eastside wastewater and water improvements, and on the water and wastewater project on Aragon (Road). So I don’t agree with that statement.”