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Rates approved

Water rates will likely increase after council included a new rate structure in the city’s proposed 2010 operating budget Wednesday night. Currently the annual charge is $107.32 for a home or duplex with $1.
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Water rates will likely increase after council included a new rate structure in the city’s proposed 2010 operating budget Wednesday night.

Currently the annual charge is $107.32 for a home or duplex with $1.86 charged for every cubic metre, but homeowners pay less for every cubic metre after a certain amount is consumed. Under the new plan, the average homeowner would pay $176 annually and $1.05 for every cubic metre used. Environment manager Kerri Marshall said the new rates are necessary for the city’s water system to be financially viable, something required under the Safe Water Drinking Act by July 1.

The city will require over $300 million in capital investments to upgrade the water system over the next 20 years. As of 2010, eight kilometres of buried water mains need to be replaced with 7 kilometres needing replacement every year after. Marshall said the city has historically only replaced 2.5 kilomtres of water mains every year. The plan would also make Water Authority revenue streams more stable as water consumption is down 23 per cent since 2001 and expected to plateau by 2012 Marshall said.

A $124,457 home using 200 cubic metres of water annually would pay an extra $1.53 under the new rate. Marshall said 64 percent of homes use under 200 cubic metres a year. City manager Tim Commisso said the plan would allow for users to reduce consumption but keep revenue stable. He said the greatest impact will be felt by those people who use more than 200 cubic metres, or 200,000 litres of water, in a year.

 “They still have the ability to look at their consumption patterns, reduce those and mitigate any increases,” said Commisso.

Included with a proposed property tax increase, the average $124,457 homeowner will pay an extra $7.74 per month in 2010 or $92.89 for the year. Coun. Rebecca Johnson said the new rates are a “dilemma” for the average taxpayer.

“I’m not happy to see rates go up but nevertheless we have to try and manage this,” said Johnson.

Wastewater, or sewer costs, would account for 75 per cent of the total proposed water rate. The changed rate will happen April 1, pending council’s approval of the budget.

Landfill fees are also going up with the proposed 2010 operating budget. The minimum gate fee is going up from $5 to $6 for the first 125 kilograms. Every kilogram after that will be $0.047, a six per cent increase over last year. Special commodities such as asbestos or garbage from international customers will be $0.042 over after the first 140 kilograms. An additional $187,400 in revenue is expected from the increase.

Council will hold a final public meeting on the budget March 2 at City Hall.





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