Star-Journbal Editor
First comes the party.
Then comes the bill.
Less than a week after Hillsboro city officials hosted an open house celebrating $3.5 million worth of improvements to its water treatment facility, the city council on Sept. 5 voted to increase water rates to begin repaying $1.5 million for the project.
Beginning this month, residents and businesses alike will receive an increase of 15 cents per each 1,000 gallons of water.
In addition, the city will begin charging a flat $20 to homeowners and businesses using fewer than 1,000 gallons per month.
In the past, rates were assessed based on three categories; residential, commercial and multiple dwellings, and commercial contractual.
Residential customers paid a $15 per month minimum for the first 2,000 gallons, and $3.13 for every 1,000 gallons thereafter. Commercial customers paid a $21 per month minimum for the same amount.
With the new rates, residential and commercial customers will pay $20 per month for the first 1,000 and $3.28 per 1,000 gallons thereafter.
City administrator Steve Garrett presented the proposed rate increase at the Sept. 5 meeting, expecting the council to need a few weeks to mull it over before voting on the matter.
"[The increase] is enough to meet new payments with a little bit of flex," Garrett said. "This plan is based on selling 105 million gallons of water per year, which is a good average. If we [sell] 111 million, then it will be more than needed."
Instead of waiting until the next meeting, the council voted 3-0 (Len Coryea was absent) to approve the rate increase, effective immediately.
Council member Matt Hiebert summed up the body's attitude by saying, "Yes, reluctantly, but we don't have a lot of choice," when called upon to cast his vote.
"There aren't too many choices on how we're going to be able to pay for this anyway, without raising water rates," Hiebert added. "I don't want to pay any more than I have to, either. But with the quality of the water we've got, it's a small price to pay."
The water plant improvements were financed through USDA Rural Development. The package included $1.5 million in 40-year, low-interest loans, which must be repaid.
Mayor Delores Dalke said that while any rate increase was difficult for her to swallow, the new level fee structure was good for business.
"I think that's important in today's atmosphere," Dalke said. "We need to show that we appreciate our businesses."
In an interview after the meeting, Dalke pointed out that the city's electric rates were leveled in a similar manner several years ago, which made the city's decision to level the water plan an easy one.
"The theory used to be that businesses can afford to pay higher rates," Dalke said. "Well, I believe that on Main Street Rural Kansas, businesses are not thriving by that amount, that they can afford to pay a higher rate.
"In the past, we've had councils that every time something like this came up, they'd talk about the little old lady on a fixed income, how were they going to be able to afford it?
"Right now our council is one that looks at what's good for the business community as well as the senior citizens on fixed incomes.
"This was an attempt to be fair."
