Water, sewer rate might rise
by Andy Phelan
andy@dekalbchamp.com
If commissioners approve a rate plan as proposed by the county's watershed manager, water and sewer rates will grow by 80 percent by 2011.
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The amount residents pay for water and sewer services may almost double over the next four years if commissioners approve a plan to cover $1.4 billion in capital improvement projects.
In a presentation to local lawmakers Oct. 2, Francis T. Kung’u, director of the county’s Department of watershed Management, said rates would have to go up 16 percent each year for four years to cover the costs of a dozen major projects, including the expansion of Snapfinger and Pole Bridge Creek wastewater plants in south DeKalb.
For the average homeowner that uses between 4,000 and 8,000 gallons every two months and pays about $53 for that service, it means they will be paying $61.40 for the same use in 2008, $71.22 in 2009, $82.62 by 2010 and $95.84 by 2011.
The county pumps about 150 million gallons a day out of the Chattahoochee River to serve customers who use on average about 150 gallons a day.
The potential rate increases will be on the board’s agenda Tuesday, Oct. 9.
The only customers who might see a rate decrease in 2008 are 235 businesses that use 2-inch water and sewer pipes. But by 2009-2011, their rates would increase, too. Residential units use three-quarter inch pipes.
“We believe what we have proposed here today will sustain us for the next five years,” said Kung’u. “Especially if we expect to sustain our current level of service and continue to fix and maintain existing our infrastructure. We don’t want to get to where Atlanta did five years ago.”
Atlanta’s water and sewer situation became so dire, the state legislature had to approve an extra penny sales tax in order to pay for its nearly $4 billion in needs.
According to Kung’u, even with the increased rates for DeKalb in 2008, the county will still be below other metro counties including Clayton, Douglas, Gwinnett and the City of Atlanta.
At least one commissioner said the rate study and subsequent plan does little to curb usage.
“Just as we have set targets for completing capital improvement, so should we set goals for conservation,” said Commissioner Jeff Rader. “How can we reduce demand, such as making it a priority that every home should have a low-flow toilet by 2012.”
Rader later mulled out loud whether the county ought to be the one taking the lead by installing the low-flow units in all county-owned buildings. Kung’u said toilets installed before 1993 use at least three more gallons a flush than newer ones.
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