By Nigel Maxwell

La Ronge looks at hefty water bill hike

Nov 19, 2014 | 6:06 AM

Water bills in La Ronge could more than double in the next two years.

The Town of La Ronge is proposing a 30 per cent hike for next year, followed by another 30 per cent hike for 2016.

By the end of it, people will be paying $1.20 a day for all the potable water they can use.

“It is a bit of a steep increase, however at the same time the municipality has been subsidizing 50 per cent of water use in the community, and anytime you are running a business you simply know that’s not efficient,” said La Ronge Mayor Thomas Sierzycki.

The proposal is now before the Saskatchewan Municipal Board. If approved, the first increase would take effect in January.

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“People need to remember that we are not simply raising the price to collect additional dollars for the municipality, we are collecting additional dollars because the cost of water has been this much. We’ve been compensating by 50 per cent, that’s just not good business practice,” said Sierzycki.

If the proposed increase is approved by the provincial municipal board, the average resident would pay $72 next year for water, sewer, and environmental costs. The average bill would go up to $92 the following year.

La Ronge Town Council has earmarked the revenue for infrastructure. Sierzycki said they expect $10 million from water and $5 million from sewer by 2020-2030.

“We’ve had a public process including community meetings to discuss this but we will still give people a bit of advanced notice and then of course if it’s not accepted, then we have to go back to the drawing board,” said Sierzycki.

Sierzycki said he expected to have an answer from the Saskatchewan Municipal Board by the end of the month.

nmaxwell@panow.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell