Water rates likely to increase
Although some said it wasn’t likely to be implemented until fall, McMinnville officials approved a water rate increase Monday on first reading.
Officials have blamed past stagnant rates as the reason for recent increases in general, but said the latest increase is designed to support three proposals for water department improvements estimated at $4.2 million.
Included in the new rates is a $4 surcharge for water and sewer services combined ($2 surcharge each for water and sewer) for city residential, industrial and commercial customers. Those considered outside city limits are expected to pay a higher surcharge fee and rate.
As an example of the new rates, for residential water use inside city limits based on 5,000 gallons of water used in one month, the water portion of the bill would be $18.25, including the $2 surcharge. Under the old rate structure, the same use would have cost $15.52.
Although officials have estimated the increase as a whole averages 10 percent, that particular example shows an increase just shy of 20 percent for water used. However, using 7,500 gallons of water used per month as an example, the increase would be closer to 10 percent.
The increases are expected to help pay for loans for the three projects, officials said, including a new water storage tank built near Highway 127, repairs to the downtown water tank and the creation of a lime stabilization plant.
Water and Sewer Committee Chairman Jimmy Bonner has said the new water tank is needed to improve storage capacity and volume and increase water pressure, while the downtown tank is corroded.
The lime stabilization plant is designed to recycle human waste and create a fertilizer that can be used in greenhouses, as well as thwart future environmental concerns if the practice of land spreading waste on area fields falls out of favor with the Environmental Protection Agency.
While the rates were previously described in terms of units of 1,000, officials on Monday changed the rates to reflect use based on units of 100 to comply with the current computer system and added wording “or fractional part thereof” to the official ordinance.
The rates were described as a fee of .325 per 100 gallons of water for all gallons 0 and above for residential customers inside city limits, as one example. They had been described as $3.25 per 1,000 gallons. Sewer rates for residential customers inside city limits were described as .350 per 100 gallons.