Council May Raise Fees

WAITSBURG - Those who use more water this summer may be paying more out of pocket.

The Wai t sburg Ci t y Council last Wednesday night heard a proposal that would tack on an extra 20 cents to the current overage rate for those who use more than the base amount of water provided to residents. And this proposal may actually be approved.

The council had already considered two proposals to increase water and sewer rates. But the council members could not support either and both died for lack of motion.

Currently, for water the city is charging $27.10 a month, with an addition 59 cents per 100 cubic feet for those who use more water than allotted.

As for sewer, the city is still paying on the wastewater treatment plant and sewer line projects. In 2001, the rate was raised to $39 a month and now it is $40.60.

Mayor Walt Gobel wondered aloud at the February council meeting whether the new sewage treatment plant would be able to keep up to speed without any rate increases.

After a study by a local engineering company gave the city numbers showing its rates were not covering the costs of running the water and sewer systems, City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe recommended the council increase sewer and water rates by $14 a month over two years.

After that proposal was not approved, Hinchliffe came back to the council in February with a proposed one-year increase of $2.30 a month. This proposal was not approved either.

But Wednesday night, the council seemed to warm to the idea of only charging customers more for going over their water use limit.

Hinchliffe said his new proposal would mean an extra 20 cents charged for ev- ery 15,000 gallons of water over the allotted amount. He also suggested the city could raise the allotted amount from 800 cubic feet to 1,000 cubic feet to make the overage increase easier to digest.

"That's something I could live with because people (would) pay for what they use," said Councilman Scott Nettles. "It gives (the customers) the power to back off. "

Hinchliffe said the extra 20 cents may not bring in as much money to build a reserve as the other proposals would have brought. But there will still be money to fund a reserve even if it's a cooler year again, he said.

Hinchliffe said he will draft an ordinance for the new overage rate and bring it back to the council for a vote at the April Council meeting.