City of Harrison to consider large water rate increase plus stopping leaks & theft

During the Harrison City Council’s monthly committee meeting on Thursday night the Finance Department heard an update on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase for water rates and considered what else needs to be done to make up for significant losses the water department has incurred.

The city’s Chief Financial Officer, Luke Feighert, has proposed a 15% increase in water rates for the coming year. The reason for the rate increase is an increase in the cost of purchasing water from the Carroll-Boone Water Association, who sets their own rates, as well as the annual CPI increase which is 4.12% for this year.

The rise in cost from the water association is coupled with leaks and non-metered water usage that the city is trying to put an end to. Currently the city loses about 30% of its water to non-metered uses, meaning water that is not paid for, which is well above the average water loss for a city. Chief Operations Officer Wade Phillips said that loss is generally expected to be around 20%, stemming mainly from leaks in the system and water theft.

Feighert said the city has already identified some billing issues that showed some of the biggest water consumers, like commercial industries in town, were being underbilled. Those consumers will not be charged for what has occurred in the past, but the billing is being corrected for the future. They have also begun identifying some other unmetered usage in major consumers. No details were shared as they are still investigating, but if their suspicions are true Feighert says the savings could be significant enough to keep the city from having to raise water rates at all next year.

Feightert said they have already recouped 2-3% of water loss since starting their search for leaks and unmetered usage which equates to about $150,000 - $200,000 per year.

Mayor Jerry Jackson added that after the city has completed its internal investigation into the problems, they hope to bring in a third-party to take their search for missing water even further.

The Cannon’s Cove Splash pad and the city pool were also brought up in this discussion by Bill Boswell who said, “if there’s no funding coming in from the splash pad then all that water is going out.”

Feighert agreed and said that the city is planning to propose a change to the way they meter their own usage of water beginning in 2023. He said that each department will have to begin paying for their usage out of their own budgets, a cost that is currently built into the city’s water rates.

“This building [City Hall] for instance. If we use 1000 gallons, we need to pay for that,” he said.

Feighert said the city usage is not going to be a big amount, “but anything from administration, police, fire, parks, anything that has water, we’re going to pay for it.”

The proposed increase is going before the City Council for a vote on December 22^nd. The meeting will start at 6:00 PM at City Hall on Industrial Park Road.