LINCOLN -- Lincoln City Council will have a public hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, on a proposal to increase sewer rates. The meeting will be held in the community building on Lincoln Square.
Following the public hearing, the Council, during its regular monthly meeting, will consider an ordinance to increase rates.
If approved, sewer rates would increase 143 percent, according to Chuck Wood, city business manager.
For the first 1,000 gallons of water used, the sewer rate would increase from $9.07 to $22.08. For each 1,000 gallons after that, rates would increase from $4 to $4.50 per 1,000 gallons.
The Council is considering an ordinance to increase rates so that sewer revenues will take care of expenses for the wastewater treatment plant, Wood said.
For 2014, the city received $227,895 in revenue for the wastewater treatment plant, with $381,415 in expenses, according to a spreadsheet on the plant's operating budget.
"Last year, we ran at a $153,000 deficit and the water department had to make that up," Wood said. "Each one has to pay for itself."
Expenses include about $95,000 for total salaries, about $173,000 for long-term liabilities annually, $24,000 for depreciation and almost $39,000 for wastewater utilities.
The proposed new rates would bring in about $393,000 in revenue. With the same amount in expenses, Lincoln would end the year with a projected balance of almost $12,000 for the wastewater treatment plant. Wood said the projected year-end balance could be used for maintenance and repairs.
Lincoln has 983 customers with the average household using 3,400 gallons of water per month. For the average user, the monthly sewer bill would be about $32.88, with the rate increase, Wood said.
Lincoln has raised rates in the past to meet standards mandated by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency. It has not raised rates to meet rising costs of the system, Wood said.
Wood said the proposed increase would give Lincoln a sewer rate that is slightly higher than Prairie Grove's sewer price. Prairie Grove charges $19.18 for the first 1,000 gallons of water and $6.16 for each 1,000 gallons of water after that.
The public is encouraged to attend the hearing
General News on 03/11/2015