Hearing on May 26, 2026, at 6:30 p.m.
Mr. Juber suggested that a base rate be set for $5.00 per 1/8 inch of water meter diameter. The
vast majority of meter diameters are 5/8 inches. Mr. Jones states that if we used a flat usage rate
of $25.00, you would then need to charge 1.48 cents per gallon of water used to cover all of the
expenses. Mr. Jones went on to say that the problem with this will be that some customers will
see their bill double. Mr. Jones stated that before the WPCA approves anything he would like to
see a full years worth of data looking at what is brought in for revenue versus what the known
expenses are for that year. Mr. Juber stated if he looks at the July 2024 thru June 2025 data and
assumes the base fee of $25.00 and 1.3 cents per gallon it would raise $1,841,680 not including
revenue for the larger diameters but the town will need $1,863,000 to meet what was in the
budget which has been approved by Town Council. Mr. Stammel explained that the $1.86
million is the total revenue and expenditure, the revenue collected for water usage is $1.53
million, the $1.86 million includes $280,000 from the general fund covering debt payments.
Therefore $1.53 million needs to be collected for water usage. Mr. Ball stated that he would like
to see what fraction of customers will see an increase in their bill. Mr. Juber replied that most
customers will be affected, Chairman Lynch followed up stating that approximately 15% of
customers would not be affected by the newly proposed rate structure. Mr. Jones said he is more
comfortable with the model that Mr. Juber presented given the information Mr. Stammel has
provided. Mr. Ball suggested gradually increasing the rates so that customers have the ability to
begin conserving water if they wanted to do. Mr. Jones stated that the flat fee could be gradually
increased incrementally so it is not a shock still allowing there to be a constant rate. Chairman
Lynch asked if we should drop that base fee of $25. My Juber replied that the base rate could be
brought down to $24 as a base fee and 1.14 cents per gallon, the commercial rate could be
trimmed as well. Mr. Juber asked if anyone knew what range meter size there is in commercial.
Chairman Lynch replied that Fox Run has an 8 inch. Mr. Ball responded that he does have that
information from a year ago but not with him, many of the commercial meters are small.
Mr. Jones asked who would be creating the presentation for the public, Mr. Lynch replied that he
will create a slide using the information that Mr. Stammel provided showing the money that has
been lost over the past few years and then another showing how the rate increase will stop those
losses. Mr. Stammel explained that the cost of the water from route 12 and 117 had previously
been under budgeted. Mr. Jones stated he wants a graph showing both the expense data and
revenue data to be presented to the public. Mr. Stammel stated he can provide that information
in a numeric form showing in the audited fiscal years 24/25, revenues collected were 1.566
million and expenses were 1.87 million.
Mr. Juber stated that if the meter charge is $4 per 1/8 inch it'd be a base fee of $20 for most
people and 1.15 cents per gallon for residential, commercial base fee would be $120 for a small
meter, $200 for a large meter, and 1.4 cents per gallon it'd raise $1,545,000.00. With this rate
structure, a person using the maximum 3333 gallons per month the new bill would be $24.72
more a month at $58.33, but if you use more or less than that your percentage increase is smaller.
Mr. Jones stated that when presenting the new rate structure to the public it would be important
to explain that money that should have been used for capital has been used to balance the budget
and that is not sustainable. Mr. Jones expressed the importance of making it clear there is a
change in the rate structure when publicizing the public hearing. Mr. Lynch suggested stating in
