HOPE — With no opposition voiced during a public hearing, the Hope Town Council gave its initial approval to a new rate for what will be the community’s latest water rate hike over the past four years.
If final approval is given during the Aug. 21 council meeting, when a second reading of the rate ordinance is considered, Hope residents using 4,000 gallons a month will be paying $52.02 a month, beginning in January 2019.
That’s about 8.5 percent more than the $45 a month now being paid, consultant O.W. “Buzz” Krohn of Westfield told the council Tuesday.
But due to a few financial breaks, water users on average will pay $2.20 a month less than the rate originally planned for next year, Krohn said.
When the average monthly rate hit $45 a month, it reached a threshold that qualified the town to receive more than $1 million from a state revolving loan, he said.
Hope is also seeing benefits from reducing its bond amounts to finance a water improvement project by about $1 million, he said.
The most recent increases were made after Eastern Bartholomew County Water Corp., which supplies the town with water, was given permission by the state last summer to raise its rates by 27.8 percent. The utility had cited a need to offset higher operating and maintenance costs, as well as pay for substantial capital improvements.
But such increases only stay in effect an average of three to five years, Krohn said.
“I can equivocally say these rates will not be indefinite,” Krohn said during Tuesday’s public hearing.
In addition, costs could come down if the replacement of 25 percent of Hope’s water distribution system stops massive leaks and reduces inefficiencies as intended, he said.
When the water bills were first increased in 2016 for the first time in 11 years a number of town council members said they heard concerns from many retirees on fixed incomes. About one in 10 Hope residents are 65 or older, according to census data.
In addition, Hope’s median per capita income is $19,908, compared with $29,588 in Columbus, according to 2016 government data.
But on Tuesday, the council members said they haven’t heard those same types of concerns this year.
Since most residents have understood rates would go up after Eastern Bartholomew received its rate increase, it’s likely they have simply resigned themselves to the inevitability of the most recent hikes, council member Nellie Meek said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Increase timeline ” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
This chart illustrates how monthly water bills have increased for Hope residents using 4,000 gallons of water a month.
2015: $28.13
2016: $40.68
2018: $45.00
2019: $52.02
[sc:pullout-text-end]
