By Andrew de Souza

POLL: Water rate increases approved at committee

May 23, 2012 | 7:05 AM

Water and sewer rate increases that were previously postponed by council are now back on the table after the city’s executive committee approved them on Tuesday.

A report from administration is looking for an average residential increase of about 5.99 per cent and average commercial rate of increase of 3.7 per cent.

The increases are given as average because they vary depending on the size of a properties connection to the water system. Click here for a detailed breakdown of the proposed increases.

The proposed increase met some opposition from Coun. Charlene Miller.

She said she thought business should shoulder a larger portion of the increase, since the average was about 3.7 per cent.

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“I’m not in favour of that because I do believe that commercial should be paying as much as the residential people are,” she said.

City Manager Robert Cotterill said the lower average was due to the fact that many small businesses had smaller connections, which were bringing the overall average down. He said larger companies with larger connections would be paying much more than the average.

“It’s based on how much water they use and the fixed rates that the business would get based on the size of their meter,” he said. “So therefore if a business is large, they may pay more than a homeowner and if a business is small they would pay less.”

The increases were originally postponed when they were last proposed during the boil water order that was placed on the city earlier in the year.

Now that the executive committee has approved the increases, it will be up to city council to debate and vote on the issue next week.

More increases on the horizon

According to the city’s report, the proposed increase is simply not enough to keep the city’s water system sustainable.

Residents have not received an increase in water rates since June, 2010. However city manager Robert Cotterill said in his report to council that costs have gone up by about six per cent in that time.
Because of that, and further projected increases, Cotterill wrote the city needs to phase in an increase of about 14 per cent by the end of the year.

“We’re currently losing money with our utility system and we need to spend more capital dollars,” he said. “So I would think we’re going to look somewhere between the 8-10 per cent range for the next three or four years.”

He said while it was surprising, it was actually the norm across the province. He pointed out that Regina was increasing rates at about 9 per cent each year and Saskatoon was increasing more than about 11 per cent each year.

Cotterill said a report will be coming to council by the end of the year that will outline the necessary increases required to make the system sustainable.

adesouza@panow.com

@drewdesouza

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