Claremont
At Wednesday night’s council meeting, Mike Maker, the consultant with the Maryland-based Municipal and Financial Services Group that completed a study on the water and sewer departments’ needs, recommended an increase for combined water and sewer that averages 6.5 percent a year, though there was no recommended sewer increase.
For the average water and sewer customer who uses about 5,000 cubic feet of water a year, Maker estimates the annual bill would increase 32 percent, or $218, to $884 in 2021 from $666 this year, which averages about $43 more a year.
In a PowerPoint presentation, Maker showed the first year increase of about $30 followed by increases of $36, $43, $50 and $58. The money would help cover operating expenses, pay for capital projects and build up reserves that pay for catastrophic failures in the system, such as ruptured pipes.
In June, an email to the city administration from Maker presented three options for increases in water rates over five years between 76 and 95 percent and sewer rate increases of 42 to 55 percent.
“That was not even a plan,” Assistant Public Works Director Vic St. Pierre said after the presentation. “We were still getting the bugs out. We had a lot more income — that was not included — and more was taken from the rainy day (fund balance) fund.”
The council seemed satisfied with the proposed increases, but asked to see a detailed chart at the next meeting on the capital projects that are expected to be completed with the increased revenue.
Councilor Bruce Temple said the chart would allow residents to see exactly what projects their higher rates will pay for.
The council did not approve the rates at Wednesday night’s meeting.
St. Pierre said about $1.5 million from water and sewer fund balances will pay for the lower Main Street infrastructure upgrades in 2017. Improvements to the dams on the city’s reservoirs, as well as the replacement of meters and service lines that have lead in them, also are planned.
The rates are also being increased in order to cover the higher costs of operating the system.
“We are using retained earnings to pay expenses,” Finance Director Mary Walter said about both water and sewer departments.
Presently, there is about $2.3 million in the water fund balance and about $4 million in sewer, Walter said.
Both departments are supported by user fees, not taxes.
Temple said water customers should look at what they actually will be paying, not at the percentage increase.
“If you look at the percentage, it will shock you,” Temple said. “The percentage skews the real picture, and the real picture is what you are paying.”
Also on Wednesday night, the council considered a proposal from Parks and Recreation Director Mark Brislin on creating a corporate membership at the community center in an effort to bolster membership.
The proposal set the rate at the current annual resident rate for a family ($350) and individuals ($250), even though many of those who use the facility are nonresidents who only work in the city.
After a lengthy discussion, the council voted, 6-3, to have the commission recommend a corporate rate that is no less than the current resident rate.
Temple said he supported a corporate rate — where in theory a company would pay a portion of the membership so an employee pays less — but one he called a “hybrid,” somewhere in between the resident and nonresident rates.
Councilors Nick Koloski and Keith Raymond strongly supported Brislin’s recommendation, lauding it as a great economic tool for the city.
“It is going to increase membership,” Raymond said.
The council agreed with to corporate rate, but did not agree on an amount.
Councilor Vic Bergeron said setting the corporate rate at the current resident rate would be unfair to those who have lived in Claremont all their lives.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
