Sewer and water rates will be raised by an average of 60%. This is a difficult situation to have found ourselves in. The former Councils decision in 2004 to lower portions of the rates and the continued expense of new growth has caused a large deficit in the sewer and water funds. Unfortunately this is the only avenue available at this time to remedy the situation.
I was surprised to see only one person at the Public Hearing tonight. I had expected more public input into the process. The citizen comment about new homes not paying their fair share of the sewer cost was a good one. The first few months of a home's new hook-up is charged at a minimal rate. This gap could cost the city thousands of dollars in a high new construction year. The city uses an average of 3000 gallons to charge new homes. The city engineer stated 8000 gallons would be a better figure. I will ask for more information and a higher charge to new home hook-ups if appropriate.
City staff has been now instructed to monitor these rates to make sure we are capturing enough revenue to cover operating cost. If these rates go into a surplus then I will push to have these rates adjusted lower.
About Me
- George
- I have served the City of Isanti as Mayor since 2007. We have accomplished great things together and I look forward to building on our success. United, we move forward to a better future. You may contact me at 763-442-8749 or e-mail me at george@georgewimmer.com.
3 comments:
PATHETIC!!!!!!!! BUT TYPICAL!!! Wish I could have gotten to the meeting, but couldn't get out of another one at work in time.
Mike has a good point. I work in building maintanance in downtown minneapolis and the city has a program for buildings that use cooling towers as well irrigation systems. It is called a deduct system. Any water that is used that can be evaporated or placed back in the ground, is deducted from the building's total usage.
I for one would like to see something like this in residential, but I also feel that the difference would not be worth the hassle for the city.
Residential sewer rates are calculated from an average water use in January, February and March. This eliminates any water used for sprinkling or washing cars that would not go into the sanitary sewer system.
I hope this helps.
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