WEST POINT — West Point Water and Light Department customers soon may have to pay more for water and sewer service.
The city”s Board of Selectmen is considering rate increases for water and sewer service to pay for $725,000 in much-needed repairs, added operating costs and other expenses. The board held a public hearing Tuesday night, during which three residents spoke out against the rate increases, but did not vote on the issue.
Residential customers inside West Point city limits currently pay $16 for their first 2,000 gallons of water per month and $2.70 for every 1,000 gallons used thereafter. The Water and Light Department is proposing an increase for residential customers inside city limits to $23 for the first 2,000 gallons and $3.20 for every 1,000 gallons used after the 2,000-gallon threshold is met.
For residential customers outside city limits, the rate hike would increase bills from $30 to $35 for the first 2,000 gallons, and from $2.70 to $3.30 for every additional 1,000 gallons.
Commercial customers inside city limits currently pay $20 for the first 2,000 gallons of water, plus $2.80 for every additional 1,000 gallons. The Water and Light Department proposal would increase the rate to $27 for the first 2,000 gallons and $3.40 for every 1,000 gallons thereafter.
Commercial customers outside city limits currently pay $30 for the first 2,000 gallons and $2.80 for every additional 1,000 gallons. The new proposal would increase the rate for commercial customers outside city limits to $40 for the first 2,000 gallons and $3.50 for every additional 1,000 gallons.
Current residential sewer rates are $15 for the first 2,000 gallons, plus $1.70 for every additional 1,000 gallons. The Water and Light Department”s proposed new residential sewer rate would be $17 for the first 2,000 gallons and $3 for each every 1,000 gallons thereafter.
Current commercial sewer rates are $20 for the first 2,000 gallons and $1.80 for every additional 1,000 gallons. The new proposal would increase commercial rates to $30 for the first 2,000 gallons and $3.10 for every additional 1,000 gallons.
The Water and Light Department has approximately 40 customers with $65 fixed rates, but those rates would increase to $84.
The water and sewer rate increases are necessary to pay for the cleaning and painting of two water towers, estimated to cost $200,000, as required by the Mississippi Department of Health. The Water and Light Department could face fines if it does not complete the cleaning and painting, Water Department Superintendent Dwight Prisock said.
The rate increase also would help the city pay back $138,000 on a loan, $287,000 for wastewater treatment plant operating costs and an additional $100,000 in operation and maintenance expenses.
West Point Mayor Scott Ross defended the proposed rate increases, saying the city lost more than 50 percent of its water revenues in recent years when Bryan Foods and Artex Factory Outlet closed.
“The bottom line is, for many years, West Point customers were subsidized by two large industrial water customers in Bryan Foods and Artex, and now they”re both gone,” Ross said.
Artex went bankrupt and left $120,000 in unpaid water bills, Ross said. Ward 4 Selectman Keith McBrayer said the Water and Light Department is owed a total of about $800,000 in unpaid bills.
“We are actively pursuing those (accounts) that we can,” Prisock assured the board and more than two dozen residents who attended the meeting.
Marvin Turnipseed was one of the residents who spoke out against the rate increases.
“It rubs me raw that we”re being asked to fund these increases, but there are people out there who are past-due, overdue and they cannot or will not pay their bill,” Turnipseed said.
The Board of Selectmen could vote on the rate increases as early as its next meeting, scheduled for the second Tuesday in November at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall.
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