TO: All Port of Allyn Water System Customers
RE: Special Meeting on Water Rates
The Port of Allyn Commissioners will hold a Special Meeting on March 14, in the Commissioner’s Meeting Room at 6 p.m. The main topic of discussion will be a change to the rate structure of the Port of Allyn’s Water Utility.
The public will be allowed to comment at this meeting, and a formal Public Hearing on the matter will take place at the Port Commission’s regular meeting on April 1.
The main reason for the rate adjustment is the fact the Water Utility, while not currently losing money, is barely breaking even on its operating costs. In the twelve years the Water Utility has operated, it has only had one rate increase. It is at a point where operating costs have increased, mandated state regulatory costs have increased, and because the system is beginning to age, infrastructure upgrades and repairs will inevitably become necessary.
The proposed base rate adjustments, if approved, are scheduled to become effective on June 1, with a second increase scheduled for January 1, 2020. The June 1, Residential Base Rate would become $35.95 per month, and the Commercial Base Rate $39.95 per month, with the Water Usage Rate remaining the same for both.
The proposed January 1, Residential Base Rate would become $39.95 and the Commercial Base Rate $44.95. The Water Usage Rate would also increase $1 per hundred cubic feet (HCF). From there through 2025, Base rates would increase $5 per month, per year, and Water Usage Rates 50 cents per HCF per year.
While we realize this is a somewhat significant increase, it is small in comparison to neighboring systems we’ve surveyed, such as Belfair Water, which charges a monthly Base Rate of $77.70 for Residential and $86.41 for Commercial. While we remain significantly priced under many other local systems, the bottom line is we have to meet our own operating costs and anticipated future needs. We have projected our costs out to 2025, kept our proposed rates as low as responsibility possible – and we will revisit them annually. What could keep rates from increasing is new construction in our service area, which will grow the number of customers in the system to be able to spread the costs over.
We wanted to give you as much notice of this proposed change as we could. We hope you’ll come to the Special Meeting on March 14, and the and the Public Hearing on April 1, so you can express your thoughts and get any questions you may have answered.
Sincerely.
Lary Coppola, Executive Director
Port of Allyn
