Residents of Independence Township will soon be paying more in water rates. However along with the increase in price, there will be improved service according to township officials.
After a presentation by Tom Traciak, President and Managing Consultant of ACI Finance, Inc., the trustees voted 6-1 to increase rates. Trustee David Wagner voted against the measure.
In the first water/sewer rate study since 1986, Traciak recommended the board raise the rates to both help fund the $17 million improvements the board had already passed and also to get in line with other surrounding communities which charge a higher rate for the service.
The water rate per 100 cubic feet will increase from $1.02 to $1.35 on March 16, while the one-time connection fee will increase from $1,000 to $2,000 on March 1, then go up to $2,600 on June 1.
‘We set the fee after the study in 1986 and we were doing fine,? Independence Township DPW Director Linda Richardson said. ‘But now that we are doing a large capital improvement project we needed to change. In order to pay for the improvements we needed to increase the rates.?
There was debate between Wagner and the rest of the board on whether increasing the hook-up fee would be wise.
‘We need to add users. My biggest fear is that we raise up the hook-up fee so high that people will not touch it,? Wagner said.
However, the rest of the board disagreed.
‘We need to protect our investment,? Trustee Dan Travis said.
Richardson believes this is the most fair way to pay for the improvements.
‘It is not fair to our current users if we raise up the user fees to pay for the entire project. We would be talking about something like $2 or so instead of the $1.35 (per 100 cubic feet),? Richardson said. ‘Some people are just not going to want to hook up which is their right. If we raise the hook-up rate that will be the reason, but if we had to raise the user fee real high then that would be the reason they give.?
The improvements include lowering the levels of arsenic and iron and building additional water mains.
Wagner said he would like to keep the hook-up fee at $1,000 for older neighborhoods, while raising the fee for new subdivisions coming into the area.
‘I have talked with people in Waterford Hills and they said if the connection fee is this high they are not going to be a part of the program,? Wagner said. ‘I mean, what are we doing? In these economic times we are gouging our residents with higher rates. It is just not right.?