An ordinance increasing water and sewer rates 5 percent annually for the next three years is set for adoption at Tuesday’s Haines Borough Assembly meeting.
If passed, the combined water/sewer rate for unmetered residential customers would increase from $78.40 today to $91.20 in July 2018.
Manager David Sosa said the increases are necessary to cover operating costs, meet loan obligations, and save money for future improvements to water and sewer facilities. However, even with the proposed increases, the water and sewer department would still not be taking in enough money to fund repairs of the wastewater treatment plant.
At last week’s assembly meeting, assembly member Mike Case asked why the borough wasn’t raising rates further to cover those repairs. “If we have this opportunity to change now, why are we letting it fall short?” he asked.
Sosa said the rates were already “going up considerably” and that the staff and assembly group that worked on the issue wanted to make sure increases were bearable. The ordinance also only addresses the next three years, he added.
“There would likely need to be more increases in the future,” Sosa said.
Assembly member Ron Jackson was leery about the rate chart because of its failure to raise water charges for cruise ship companies. “It seems like we are raising the rates for everybody except the commercial bulk water,” Jackson said.
Under the ordinance, rates for cruise ships remain steady at $4.50 per 1,000 gallons. The service charge is also staying at a flat $50.
The ordinance also plans on transferring $6,000 to $8,000 annually of cruise ship head tax money to subsidize the water fund. Jackson said it seemed like this was indirectly giving money to the cruise ship companies.
“Cruise ships can buy water in any port they visit,” said chief fiscal officer Jila Stuart. “And in Juneau, last time I checked, they pay $4.67 per 1,000 gallons. We don’t want to price ourselves out of the market.”
The ordinance also would eliminate the metered residential rate for customers in the Crystal Cathedrals water system and put those users on the flat residential rate. The borough took over Crystal Cathedrals, a formerly private utility, in 2010.
Two years ago, the borough contracted with Ferguson Waterworks for $26,000 to purchase and install new equipment to make the meter-reading process less time-consuming. The equipment can still be used to read usage on commercial businesses, which are required to be metered, Stuart said.
Former Crystal Cathedrals customers also would see their monthly surcharge reduced by $1.75, from $17.95 to $16.20. Crystal Cathedrals customers pay a surcharge to offset the $370,000 the borough spent on buying the system.
The ordinance also would nearly double the seasonal turn-on, turn-off fee, which allows customers to pay a reduced rate on their utilities when they are out of town or not living in the residence for extended periods of time. It would increase the fee from $45 to $85.
The increases would go into effect May 1.
The ordinance is scheduled for its second public hearing Tuesday.