A nine percent increase in water rates passed on first reading at the March 11 Georgetown Village Council meeting.
The vote was a 3-3 tie, with Mayor Dale Cahall voting yes to send the ordinance to a second reading and possible approval on March 25.
Prior to the vote, Village Administrator Tyler Thompson went over some of the recent changes in the Municipal Utilities Policy.
Council would be required to review all utility rates and fees every year. Customers who opt in for paperless billing would receive a $5.00 credit on their first bill. Customers who register for automatic payment by credit card, debit card, or from a bank account a would get a $10 credit on their first bill. The bad check charge would increase to $50. There would be an increased charge for more than two voluntary shutoffs.
No new security lights would be installed by the village but they will continue to maintain those already in existence. Electric customers outside of the village limits would begin paying an increased rate unless they sign an annexation agreement.
Utilities Officer Supervisor Cassandra McCormick said she misquoted the amount the village pays for the credit card charges at the last work session. It averages about 1%. If the charge is passed on to the customer, the company the village deals with suggested to use 2.95% instead of a $2.00 flat fee because there would be a cap on the flat fee and customers would have to pay that fee on each cap. It will be cheaper for the customer to pay a $2.95 fee.
Prior to the vote, there were three proposals to increase water rates put forth by Council Members Andy Clift, Buddy Coburn, and Kelly Cornette at the last work session.
Administrator Thompson put together information to show what each proposal would bring into the water fund. Thompson went over Clift’s proposal of 9% plus a $5.00 surcharge. This proposal raises the most funds for the water fund. Coburn’s proposal was for a 9% increase with no surcharge.
Cornette’s proposal included a $10 surcharge on water, a $10 rebate on electric, and a 6% increase on the minimum only. Cornette wanted her rebate and surcharge to be for one or two years not five years as Thompson had it listed. After looking at the figures she would prefer a $3 increase on the smaller meters and a $4 fee for the larger meters.
Coburn spoke of how pleased he is with the full council work sessions instead of traditional committee meetings and said, “I know it cost the village some money but when you look at how far we progressed in a couple of work sessions that we’ve had from where we were, I think every penny was well-spent. I didn’t do it on account of the money. I did it on account of I wanted to get something done.”
Coburn wanted to adopt one of the proposals as an emergency doing away with the second reading. There being no consensus, Coburn made a motion to adopt his 9% plan. Highlander proposed Cornette’s plan. The solicitor said Coburn’s motion, seconded by Guenther, had to be voted on. Coburn, Colwell, and Guenther voted yes. Clift, Cornette, and Highlander voted no. Mayor Cahall, feeling a decision needed to be made and not being a fan of surcharges unless it is for a building project, decided to break the tie and voted yes. Coburn’s 9% plan passed.
Coburn wanted to make the vote an emergency vote due to the time frame involved. It takes five votes from council to make it an issue an emergency that can go into effect immediately.
When an ordinance is passed as an emergency, citizens cannot petition a referendum as they can on an ordinance that is passed after two readings.
Cornette disagreed with passing it as an emergency which would take away transparency and the chance for citizens to comment on it. She believes a straight 9% increase over 5 years is a large impact to the average household. Since it is compounded it figures out to a 56% over 5 years.
She continued, “My goal was to really make it meaningful for the village but also with as little impact to the average consumer knowing we are in difficult times and a lot of uncertainty so I hate to see we are passing something that is going to impact the average household in our community.”
Guenther said the 9% increase was less of a burden on the working class people than a surcharge is. He continued, “It’s not outrageous at all considering water rates are so cheap here. Everyone I talked to was OK with it.” He wants to look at it at the end of the year and see if adjustments need to be made.
Coburn responded to Cornette, “It is going to be a hardship on some people but a surcharge is going to be more of a hardship.”
Clift interjected, “Her plan was actually a wash because it had the rebate on the electric.”
Coburn countered that he didn’t want to take money out of the electric fund because of future and unforeseen needs of the electric department. He said, “I agree we’re transparent. Our meetings are open and we express our minds.”
Coburn shared residents and business owners approached him and were concerned about the water rates. He assured them the council is looking at ways to help them.
Cornette addressed Coburn saying, “A surcharge and a rebate might help something like that.”
Coburn responded, “I am open to looking at anything like that.”
Cornette said, “No, you’re not. You immediately put a 9% out there to vote on. You are speaking out of both sides of your mouth is what I am trying to politely say, Buddy. You can’t speak out of both sides.”
He replied that he told them there are other options but there will probably be an increase between 3% and 9%.
Cornette responded, “Just make sure you understand there were two proposals on the table, 1 was a flat surcharge and 1 was going to be rebated. You did not allow discussion about the other two proposals.”
In her turn in the roundtable, Cornette brought up several things that she said had been talked about in the past but nothing had been done about them. One was a cost of living raise which will go to the HR committee. At the same time they need to be sure annual reviews are being completed. Mayor Cahall brought up that it was mentioned to have a special council meeting to discuss raises. Cornette asked about the mold in the water building. Thompson said the architect is coming the next day to discuss all of the village’s offices and buildings. Cornette feels they should provide something to the employees who worked through Covid. She also wants to look at the spending limit of the administrator. She likes work sessions and think they are valuable but she would like council not to be paid for work sessions. The solicitor will check the Charter to see what it says. It may be a policy change.
The next Village Council Meeting will be March 25, 2021, at 7 PM in the Council Chamber. All council and committee meetings and work sessions are open to the public.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}