Whitefish water rates going up 15 percent
By LYNNETTE HINTZE
The Daily Inter Lake
Water gets more expensive in Whitefish starting Oct. 1.
That's when a 15.35 percent water-rate increase takes effect. Next year and the year after, rates will bump up another 6 percent annually in an effort to pay for $5 million in capital improvements over the next four years.
After 2008, rate increases will be based on the consumer price index.
The Whitefish City Council heard from water users during a public hearing on Tuesday before unanimously adopting the rate increase. Several in the audience argued that the city is making all of its residents pay for new development. Some wondered if the city's plant-investment fees are high enough to absorb of new growth.
"In broad terms, the perception is that all of us are paying for growth," said Rhonda Fitzgerald, owner of Garden Wall Bed & Breakfast. "When we bit the bullet on the water-treatment plant [several years ago], that was just us. Things are very different now. It's important to find out if our plant-investment fees are enough.
"It detracts from a sense of community when you know that someone is making a pretty profit, and we'll be paying on it for a long time," Fitzgerald said.
Public Works Director John Wilson said the current plant-investment fee structure is "subjective." New hookups generally cost $3,000 per home for water and sewer. Commercial hookups range from $20,000 to $30,000.
Plant-investment fees bring in about $500,000 a year, but it's not enough to make the kind of upgrades needed to replace aging pipes and deal with new development.
The average residential customer's monthly charge for water service will jump about $5, from $26.09 to $31.42. Customers outside city limits will now pay $45.69. Big commercial water users will pay roughly $250 more each month.
Sprinkling rates also will increase, from $1.20 to $1.54 per thousand gallons.
Former City Council member Jan Metzmaker said she was on the council years ago when the water rates quadrupled to pay for the treatment plant.
"There was no easy fix [then]," she said. "I'd hope you'd be fair and equitable. Local people like myself are subsidizing growth."
About 60 percent of the planned capital improvements will accommodate new development; the remaining 40 percent will replace aging pipes and equipment.
Council members wondered why the city hasn't raised rates gradually.
Wilson said his department has been "really focused on fixing things and didn't put a spotlight" on rates.
Mayor Andy Feury disputed the audience's contention that users are subsidizing new growth.
"The notion we don't charge new development is mistaken," Feury said. "Whether we charge enough [in plant-investment fees] could be debated."
Feury pointed out that the city has had one 4.9 percent increase in the past seven years, yet costs have gone up 21 percent.
"Rate increases haven't kept pace," he said.
Wilson said the city's operating reserves for the water system have been dwindling. The city should have a six-month reserve, but rising costs without the needed rate increases left a negative balance for operating cash earlier this year.
Council member Nancy Woodruff asked if plant-investment fees could be increased right away to help mitigate the need for such a big rate increase this year.
Wilson maintained the 15.35 percent increase is indeed needed this year, but agreed to look at fee adjustments to offset later increases.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com