Finance Committee Recommends 5% Water/Sewer Rate Increase

Harrison City Council will consider adding 5% to city water rates at December's full council meeting.

Harrison’s City Financial officer, Luke Feighert, presented the Harrison City Council’s Finance Committee with an increase in water and sewer rates on Thursday night that would total 5%.

That includes the increase already passed by the council in November from the Carroll Boone Water Association of 15 cents per 1000 gallons. Feighert said the increase will amount to an additional $2.40 on the minimum water bill. He said, “we’re trying to keep that as low as possible.”

The increase was asked for a few hours before the Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers for December were released. CPI measures the average change in prices year over year on certain goods. On Friday Morning Feighert notified the council of those final CPI numbers which for water rates was an increase of 3.03%.

In his estimations on Thursday Feighert had factored in a CPI increase of 2.79% along with credit card fees of .97% and the $0.15 per 1000-gallon increase from the water association. Mitch Magness, chairman of the financial committee said those all together add up to about 4.29% leaving approximately 0.7% to go toward building back reserves for the water fund which has operated in a deficit for the last few years.

Those numbers are somewhat skewed with the release of the actual CPI increase going from 2.79% to 3.03% between November and December. However, Feighert said on Friday that the plan will still be to ask for a 5% increase.

Also noted at the meeting is the probable possibility that by 2025 the City of Harrison will be required to do a rate study on their water rates which will look at cost and revenue over several years and determine what the rates should be. Feighert said at that point the city would need a very good reason to have their rates as anything but what the study says and so the control or the water rates will largely be out of the hands of the city administration.

This matter will be brought to the full city council on December 16^th for consideration.