V. Hugh Lewis II/Jefferson Jimplecute
A potential increase to end-customer water bills has kept residents concerned following the announcement by Northeast Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) of their planned 75% increase in wholesale rates to the City starting in October.
Many local residents and businesses have been concerned that their minimum water bills would go from $55.50 to over $75 due to the increase. But those fears were proven unfounded during Monday night’s special Council meeting.
Jefferson’s NETMWD representative George Otstott provided some initial updates as to why NETMWD was having to go up on rates. Otstott also provided his own water bill showing what his new bill would be if the City chooses to pass on the increase.
Otstott’s new bill would increase by $7.50 for 6,761 gallons of usage.
Current water bills include a base charge of $18 for 1,000 gallons of water. Each additional 1,000 gallons is $3.75. There is also a $12.50 charge for the bond payments for the latest water/sewer upgrades the city did in 2015.
The sewer portion of the water bill has a base charge of $12.50 for the first 2,000 gallons of sewage, and an additional $4.25 per 1,000 gallons afterwards. The city bases the sewer usage on the gallons of water total. There is also an additional $12.50 charge for the water/sewer upgrades in 2015.
The City has not discussed how to handle the $1.11 increase in the cost of raw water from NETMWD, but this Tuesday’s budget discussions may have more input as the workshops have indicated an increase in revenue from water/sewer sales.
NETMWD has not increased the wholeslae water rates to the City in 14 years. Currently the rate is only 25% of what it costs them to treat the water. NETMWD has been using cash reserves and industrial water sales to offset the costs. However, over the last couple of years, the industrial sales have disappeared.
“We can no longer afford to allocate unrestricted reserves to offset the cost of treated water,” said Wayne Owen, NETMWD Director.
Owen also went on to address a series of concerns which have been brought – including his hiring and salary. Owen was hired away from the San Jacinto River Authority. Owen also mentioned that the USACE provided a much larger than anticipated bill for maintenance at the lake – $3-400K anticipated vs $950K received.
Jefferson business owner David Echols asked if the district had reviewed some of the uses of funds by the USACE to ensure the funds are used correctly. Otstott and Owen said they would make inquiries into an audit of the projects the USACE funded.
Other concerns raised by David Simpson, a former Mayor of Avinger, regarding the various expenses NETMWD has over the years. Simpson challenged Owens salary by comparing it to other executives salaries in the area.
Simpson also focused on lobbying expenses which have greatlly increased this legislative session.
Simpson recently provided Council and the NETMWD a letter which outlined his concerns, but the Jimplecute did not have a copy of that letter as of press time.
Otstott and Owen did not directly respond to Simpson’s concerns publicly during the meeting.
Council did not make any decisions on water rates at the meeting.