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Town approves water, sewer rate increase
by Charles S. Williams
North Wilkesboro commissioners unanimously approved a rate increase for water and sewer services Thursday night. The commissioners also approved eliminating town-funded health insurance for board members in a move that will save the town over $50,000 annually.
The regular "second Tuesday" July meeting was moved up to avoid a conflict with the Fourth of July holiday week and to handle fiscal year-end budget amendments.
Water, sewer rate change
Currently, the town has a minimum charge of $15 for the first 6,000 gallons of water, plus additional charges per 1,000 gallons for usage over that minimum, and billing is done every other month. Under the new plan, customers will be billed every month, with a base charge of $7.50 for service, and a charge of $3 per 1,000 gallons for the first 3,000 gallons. After that, there would be an additional charge, based on a sliding scale, for every 1,000 gallons.
For sewer rates, the base charge would be increased $1 per month, to $3.50, and the usage rate would increase 50 cents per 1,000 gallons used to $3.45. The average commercial account, said Town Manager Hank Perkins, would see an increase of $11.06 per month.
The rate change will raise water rates for the “average” residential user by approximately $9, while the sewer rate would go up by an estimated $3.43 per month per household.
The town has been using approximately $250,000 annually from reserve funds to balance the water and sewer fund. Perkins said that the increase would “stop the bleeding” while adding that the town needed to perform a rate study in the next year to consider more increases to cover the cost of improving the system’s infrastructure.
Town officials have not increased the water and sewer rates in 10 years.
Debbie Ferguson, who made the motion to approve the town’s fee structure said, “no elected person ever wants to raise fees for anything. But we have had to dip into the reserves for at least six years. We need money to replace pipes, some of which have been in use since 1906.
“Unfortunately, we have been depleting our reserves to keep the rates low. Our rates are very low even though they may seem high compared to our neighbors across the river (in Wilkesboro) who have some of the lowest rates in the state.
“This increase doesn’t really bring in any additional money for the town. It just stops the use of the money we had saved,” she said.
The new rates will also qualify the town for state grants. Towns with the lowest rates are not eligible for grants.
Commissioner Bert Hall said he would “reluctantly vote for the increase, but I don’t appreciate the state telling us what we need to do when they can’t even handle their own finances.”
Perkins suggested hiring a professional analyst to help in formulating new water and sewer rates in the future. Hall responded, “I think we can handle the situation ourselves without hiring a specialist.”
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Betty Foster told the commissioners, “I think it would be unfortunate for the water rates to go up at this time, and I hope you could find a different way to meet your difficulties. I hope that you would consider doing all you can to avoid raising the bill.”
She also told the board members, “you had a superb opportunity to take care of the town but you didn’t. So now you have to answer for that every time you consider raising utility rates or the taxes.”
Mrs. Foster and her husband, former Mayor Steve Foster, supported the bid of Community Health Systems, a Tennessee-based healthcare system, to lease Wilkes Regional Medical System. The company had offered an upfront lease payment of $51 million for a 30-year lease. The board, in a split vote, awarded the lease to Carolinas Healthcare Systems this past year.
Board insurance dropped
The commissioners also voted unanimously to drop health insurance coverage, paid for by the town, on board members and their families. The package had an annual cost of approximately $55,0 |
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