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Show BUL Approves Increase In Waier EMes By GARY R. BLODGETT BOUNTIFUL As proposed prop-osed earlier, culinary water rates in Bountiful will be increased in-creased for residents using more than the minimum 5,000 gallons per month. BUT THE NEW rates won t go into effect until April 1 and will not show on utility billings until May, according to City Managy Tom Hardy who made the proposal to the council last Wednesday night. He explained that income from the new rates will be increased in-creased by about $19,000 for the two-months remaining in fiscal-year 1980-81, but will still leave a deficit of about $25,000 in the water department depart-ment budget. MR. HARDY suggested that the proposed rates not become effective until April because of , the difficulty of reading meters -during the winter months. Presently, water rates are estimated during the winter months and adjusted when meter readings are taken during dur-ing the summer. "WE WANT accurate readings read-ings to start the new rates, especially since the 5,000 minimum mini-mum gallons will be used as the base," Mr. Hardy told the council. For residents using a minimum mini-mum amount of culinary water less than 5,000 gallons per month there will be no increase in-crease in the monthly water billing, it was explained. HOWEVER, FOR persons using more than 5.000 gallons per month, there will be a charge of 60 cents per 1.000 gallons which could be as much as $2.40 for users of 9.000 gallons. t Presently, the minimum $4 fee is based on 9.000 gallons per month and 55 cents per 1.000 gallons used over the 9,000 gallons minimum base. FOR RESIDENTS living above the 5,140-foot level, the rate for "excessive usage" beyond the 5,000 minimum gallons the rate per 1.000 gallons over minimum will be increased from 57 cents to 65 cents, according to the new proposal. Mr. Hardy said the water rate increase is the first since June of 1958 and "should carry the wat. . department in the black until at least June of 1982." HE NOTED that the increase in-crease averages about 12 percent per-cent per family. "Pro-rated over a four-year period (June 1978 to June 1982). this would amount to three percent per year,'.' the city manager explained. ex-plained. - . . Also, he explained, about 15 percent of the total number of water users in the city will not be affected by the rate increases in-creases because they will still use less than 5,000 minimum gallons and will continue to pay the minimum $4 base rate. ABOUT 50 percent of the hookups will pay an additional 60 cents to $2.40 per month because be-cause of the lowering of the minumum rate of 5,000 gallons, gal-lons, and about 25 percent of-the of-the residents who previously, used more than the former 9.000 gallons per month will continue to pay for excessive use of water, the city manager explained. Hardest hit will be residents of Maple Hills and other southeast south-east community subdivisions where Weber Basin irrigation water is not available and where residents must pay the additional cost for "excessive : water" because they live above the 5.140-foot level. RESIDENTS OF the upper benches (above 5.140 feet which is approximately 1300 East) have paid a higher rate for water because of additional pumping costs to pump the water wa-ter into the area. Mr. Hardy said that during the past three years water revenues re-venues have increased only 4.3 percent while operating costs have increased by 10.5 percent per year. He said the largest increased expenses have been in pumping and water purchase purch-ase costs. HE NOTED that funds which had been invested over the years were recently being used to pay for operational costs of the system. "And this is not sound management or financial practice." he said. The city manager suggested that the excess revenue earned . because of the new rates be invested and used only when needed for reservoirs or large maintenance projects. "IT'S MUCH BETTER to have the money available when needed than to bond for a project." the city manager said. "When bonding is necessary, neces-sary, taxpayers pay not only a very high interest on the bond but they also lose the advantage advan-tage of collecting interest if money is invested on a pay-as-you-go basis and left to accumulate." accu-mulate." He said the average yearly water rate for Bountiful residents resi-dents under the new proposal will be about $70. This compares com-pares to about $1 10 a year for Salt Lake City residents. ALSO, HE NOTED, Bountiful Bounti-ful water rates, even when the new rates go into effect, will be less than most Davis County communities. |