Drumheller Town Council is aiming to have the Town’s water and sewer utility rates finalized early in the new year.
Before settling on what the new rates will be, Council was presented with different options they could pursue.
The goal of the rates, as mandated by the Municipal Governance Act, is for the Town to recover its costs for the utilities.
“Tonight, we were presented with a couple options; a three per cent cost of living increase, a five per cent increase, to a possible seven per cent increase,” said Mayor Terry Yemen. “Historically, our budget has been three per cent...but it’s a decision Council will make after meeting with the consultant. He’s going to take us through the whole process and answer any questions that Council has.”
For example, with a three per cent increase, the fixed rate for water would go from $10.50 to $10.80 and the metered rate would go from $1.36 per cubic metre to $1.39.
A five per cent increase would result in a fixed rate of $11.00 and a metered rate of $1.41 per cubic metre.
In the Town’s budget, calculations were made assuming a three per cent increase.
The Town is on track, with a three per cent increase, to raise roughly $2.8 million from its utilities. That amount covers the operating costs of the Town’s utilities, but leaves little leftover.
Increasing the utilities rates further would give the Town extra to put towards reserves and fund repairs or capital projects.
“The way the province has it set up, they say we should be collecting a whole lot more money to put into reserves,” said Mayor Yemen.
Other options presented to Council included different ratios between fixed and metered rates for utilities. However, decreasing one would necessitate an increase in the other to generate the same amount of revenue.
“We can eliminate the fixed rate, but the meter rate goes up. For example, if we lowered the fixed rate to $5.00 per month, the meter rate goes up to $1.59 per cubic meter,” said Yemen. “There’s still a cost to have that line and that meter, so you want to do it as fairly as possible.”
Council will be meeting with their consultant tomorrow to discuss the utility rates further. From there, Council will make a decision early in the new year. Until Council makes their decision, the 2012 rates will still apply.
