>> CITY OF MILLEDGEVILLE
Milledgeville water system customers will see a significant increase in their bills over the next two to three years. The questions now are how the increases will be implemented and over what period.
The Milledgeville city council held its first of two work sessions planned for January last week, and City Manager Hank Griffeth presented data on needed water and sewer increases and his suggestions to accomplish that.
Griffeth began by briefly discussing the anticipated annual expenses, totaling just over $13.6 million, of which approximately $9.3 million is for operating expenses. The expenditures also include annual payments of $2,062,500 for water plant improvements and $1 million annually for capital improvement projects, both financed through the issuance of a 20-year bond.
According to an engineering firm’s report, the existing budgeted revenue totals about $7.1 million, leaving a shortfall of just over $6.5 million. That would require a 35% water and sewer rate increase, Griffeth noted while reviewing a chart accompanying the report.
“There’s no other choice about it,” he said. “Water and sewer rates have not increased since 2012, and that was a five-year phase-in. So, we are already behind the eight ball.”
The city manager pointed out that currently the base rate of a meter for a customer inside the city, whether it be 3/4-inch or 12-inch, is $12.89 per month, and that includes up to 3,000 gallons of water. The rate above that minimum is $2.85 per 1,000 gallons.
“An extremely good deal,” he asserted. “It’s the best deal around.”
Griffeth said approximately 75 percent of the water customers use the minimum amount of water, 3,000 gallons or less. According to the figures he presented, the policy regarding the cost of meters will change. Larger meter owners will be hit the hardest, dollar-wise.
“We have gone up on the base charge for meter size,” he said. “The larger the meter, the larger the base charge. Because the larger the meter, the greater the potential you have for it to be a commercial or industrial account.”
A 3/4-inch water meter would go from $12.89 to $17.37 for a customer inside the city, while the charge for a 12-inch meter would jump up to $1,193.71.
Currently, there are two customers with 12-inch meters, while there are 21 eight-inches in size. The cost of those would increase to $446.29 monthly.
In addition, Griffeth stated, the cost per thousand gallons of water would go up to $3.84.
The city manager only used meter sizes of 3/4, 1, and 1.5 inches in his cost analysis, saying those are residential meters and constitute the vast majority of customers. The 3/4-inch meters are used by just over 75% of the customers.
According to the chart showing current and proposed rates, the cost for those customers using 3,000 gallons or less for water and sewer service would increase from $25.78 to $71.09, representing $28.89 for the water and $42.20 for sewerage treatment. The sewerage cost per 1,000 gallons will increase from $3.99 to $5.38 for customers inside the city.
Under Griffeth’s plan, there will be no 3,000 gallons minimum usage charge and no “free water.”
“There will be no minimum at all,” Griffeth explained. “What I am suggesting we go to is, there will be a base charge, and that base charge does not give you any water.”
The magnitude of the jump in cost to most customers was obvious to council members, and Griffeth recognized that. He suggested a way to reduce the immediate impact.
“You can see that the increase would be significant,” he noted. “That’s the reason I think we need to look at phasing it in over three years. We will most likely not need the money from the bond issuance until the first quarter, maybe the second quarter of 2025. So, we could phase this in at 33 percent a year for the next three years and still be fine.
“If that is something you think has some merit,” he said, “when we meet on Jan. 30, I will bring you back some figures of how we phase that in over three years, to get us to the point we need to be at once that three-year period is up.
“That way,” he added, “we can let consumers, especially private residence consumers, know we are going to be going up X number of dollars each year the next three years so that they can plan accordingly.”
Following discussion, council members agreed unofficially to consider the three-year phase-in, and Griffeth is hopeful the decision will be made, and necessary bookkeeping will be done along with notification to customers for the initial rate increase to take effect April 1.
“That would be for the water used in April, so the increased rates wouldn’t show up on a person’s bill until May.”
City Council member Steve Chambers requested numbers for a two-year phase-in, and Griffeth agreed to provide that information on Jan. 30.
The city manager also suggested a plan to reduce the need for such extreme increases in the future.
“There are several systems and authorities around the state that have a built-in percentage increase every year.”
Griffeth shared with council members an ordinance passed by the Henry County Water Authority, which calls for a 5% increase in water and sewer rates annually as long as the ordinance is in effect.
“I’m not anywhere close to saying we need to increase our rates by five percent a year,” he said. “But I am saying, for the future of the Milledgeville water and sewer system, I think that’s something this body will need to look at down the road, passing an ordinance for a 1% percent or 2% increase.”
Griffeth indicated later in the week he has a 2% maximum increase in mind to propose at the next work session.