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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Huge hikes in water, sewer rates on tap across USA
Updated 12/27/2007 9:54 PM |
INCREASES OVER A DECADE
How much average water and sewer rates have increased nationally during the following two-year periods:
Water rates Sewer rates
1996-98 12.3% 3.5%
1998-2000 6.5% 10.1%
2000-02 8.8% 7.9%
2002-04 7.2% 12.1%
2004-06 7.1% 7.8%
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY
Huge increases in water and sewer bills are on the way in many places as cities and towns try to repair aging pipes and correct artificially low prices.
New York, Detroit, Tampa and Atlanta are among cities facing large rate increases. Many of the nation's 70,000 smaller systems — from Monterey, Calif., to Charleston, W.Va. — are imposing major price hikes, too.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the nation's water and wastewater systems need an investment of up to $1.2 trillion over 20 years. Also, arid states such as Arizona, Texas and Utah, where water costs more to provide, have fast-growing populations.
"God made the water, but he didn't make the pipes or have to comply with EPA regulations," says Nick DeBenedictis, CEO of Aqua America, a private water company that serves 3 million.
Last year, the median residential bill was $278 for water and $276 for sewer service, reports the American Water Works Association, an industry group.
The median rate increase was about 5%, says Doug Scott, a credit analyst at Fitch Ratings, which evaluates the debt of municipal utilities. Average rate increases of that amount are enough to finance the industry's capital needs, he says.
Many people, however, will see much larger increases because of the quirky pricing policy of water and sewer systems. Already, some communities are getting scalded by price hikes of 50%, 100% or more.
The problem: Many municipal owned systems have treated rate hikes like tax increases and avoided them for years. The Government Accountability Office estimates that 29% of water systems and 41% of sewer systems charge customers less than the cost of the service.
These money-losing systems have no way to finance expensive repairs without delivering a rate shock to customers.
"About the only time customers hear from water systems is when they want increases, and that makes people furious," says Missouri Public Service Commission Chairman Jeff Davis.
The USA has about 54,000 community water systems and 16,000 sewer systems, according to the EPA. Local government supplies 88% of water and 80% of sewer service. City councils and county commissioners often vote on rates every year.
"You can get all the water you need for a buck a day," DeBenedictis says. "But many cities are charging 25 cents. When they go to 50 cents, the headline is: 'Mayor asks for 100% rate increase.' "
A sampling of big increases:
• Muskegon Heights, Mich., increased its rates 100% for next year, angering neighboring communities that depend on it for water. It was the first change in seven years.
• In Anthem, Ariz., Arizona-American Water Co. asked for a 71% hike in rates for homeowners and 120% for businesses, plus future rate increases. It scaled back the request by an unspecified amount. The company says it needs to repay the developer of the planned community of 40,000 near Phoenix for building the system.
• Bay County, Fla., home of Panama City, hiked its rates 61%, the first change since 2000.
Rate hikes often are viewed as unfair, especially in communities that buy water and sewer services from private companies or other towns. Connecticut state Rep. John Hetherington objected when New Canaan got hit with a 33% increase, more than other towns. "Tax increases. Higher electric rates. Now this," he says. "It's one more thing people living on the edge have to deal with."
The burden is falling hardest on older cities that have systems built after World War II.
Atlanta is investing $3.9 billion in its system. Atlanta voters approved a 1-cent sales tax to limit this year's rate hike to 10%. Otherwise, it would have jumped 43%.
Posted 12/27/2007 8:35 PM
Updated 12/27/2007 9:54 PM |
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Fri Sep 28, 2012 10:59 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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While USA Today has been reporting on projected increases, the Southwest and some western regions of our country have been fighting battles over water for over forty years.
In the 80's the speakers for one of the Native American Law Days at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor focused on the legal battles to control water in those regions. There has been more than one effort to take Great Lakes water and pipe it to those regions. I keep repeating that water is the gold of our future. |
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Fri Sep 28, 2012 11:04 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Pastors Threkheld and Flynn have a radio show every saturday morning followed by a show for Sheldon Neeley. Last week a caller was objecting to the increases in Flint and that these increases did not include the county.
Flint has not incurred additional costs to provide water to the county and therefore they can only pass on the increases coming from Detroit.
Flint is saying they have increased costs associated with servicing Flint residents. Could be related to costs of service remaining the same while the number of users of he water system is declining. Could be mismanagement.
But then again other departments that have overspent have borrowed from the water and sewer funds. There neede to be an accounting of how these deficits in the water and sewer fund have accumulated under the Emergency Manager supervision. |
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Tue Feb 12, 2013 8:34 am |
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