By the end of this week Brandon Presley, the public service commissioner for Mississippi’s northern district, will sign an order allowing Caledonia to change the rate at which it charges customers for water.
Under the new rate, the approximately 2,000 customers who draw water from the town will pay $7.25 per month for each 1,000 gallons of water used. The minimum fee will be $7.25 regardless of how much water is used up to 1,000 gallons. Fees for increments above 1,000 gallons are prorated.
Presley was in Caledonia on Tuesday to hold a public hearing on the matter. It was held at the Community Center.
“This ‘increase’ that is requested by the town will actually produce a rate decrease for 700-plus customers,” Presley said, referencing customers who use less than 2,000 gallons of water per month.
Since 2007 — the last time Caledonia increased water rates — customers within the city limits have paid a minimum of $12 a month for 2,000 gallons. Customers outside of the city limits have paid $14 a month for 2,000 gallons. Everyone, whether in the city limits or out, was charged $4 for each 1,000 gallons after the initial 2,000, according to Benny Coleman, the town’s water superintendent.
The average family of four uses roughly 5,500 gallons of water each month, according to Coleman. Under the new rates, that average monthly bill would increase from $26 to $40.
The driver behind the rate increase is the $3.2 million water system upgrade Caledonia undertook in 2009. The state health department required the town to upgrade the system or risk not being allowed to install new water meters.
With its number of residents on the rise — the number of residents using Caledonia water has risen about 20 percent in the last decade — the upgrade was viewed as a necessity.
Now, the town has to pay for it, Mayor Bill Lawrence said.
Lawrence said while testifying at Tuesday’s hearing that the new rate, “is totally necessary or we will default” on the loan.
“At some point, the money just won’t be there?” Chris Hemphill, the town’s attorney, asked.
“Yes,” Lawrence said. “Sooner than later.”
Coleman explained the town is routinely dipping into reserves to pay its 20-year note and needs to generate roughly $200,000 more a year to cover its payments. Monthly payments are approximately $17,000.
“We can’t sustain what we’re doing,” Coleman said.
The town notified the Public Service Commission about its intent to change water rates on July 1. While the state commission does not hold jurisdiction over customers residing inside Caledonia’s city limits, it does represent customers residing outside a one-mile radius of the town and the town was proposing a “blanket rate increase” for all its customers.
On July 20, former Caledonia mayor George Gerhart intervened in the case by sending a letter to Presley’s office protesting the proposed rate change and requesting a public hearing on the matter.
“There are so many other ways the department could save money for these payments,” Gerhart wrote in his letter.
Roughly 30 people attended Tuesday night’s hearing. Gerhart was not present.
When it came time for public comments, a half-dozen people spoke in favor of the rate increase. No one spoke in opposition.
Unless an objection is made within 14 days of Presley signing the order allowing for the rate change, Caledonia will be authorized to implement the rate change on the following billing cycle, Presley said.
Current monthly rates
■ Inside city limits: $12 minimum for 2,000 gallons; $4 for each 1,000 gallons after
■ Outside city limits: $14 minimum for 2,000 gallons; $4 for each 1,000 gallons after
New monthly rates
■ Inside city limits: $7.25 minimum for 1,000 gallons; $7.25 for each 1,000 gallons after
■ Outside city limits: $7.25 minimum for 1,000 gallons; $7.25 for each 1,000 gallons after
Change will be to a flat rate of $7.25
for each 1,000 gallons used
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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