WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE - SO WHY DO WE HAVE TO PAY?

I frequently hear complaints that our water and sewer bills are too high. Of course, any water/sewer rate is too high, but here is where we really are.
The area of Park City that is in the Rural Water District #2 has been a concern for many years. I was on the City Council that agreed to the settlement that haunts us to this day. Gary Davis and I were brand new on the Council, and if our attorney advised us to agree to something, we did. David Oldham and Emil Bergquist were also on the Council at that time. Bad attorney, bad advice.
That settlement became a journal entry that lasts forever. City Attorney Doug Mosier and I have met with the Rural Water District people at their board meetings, in mediation, in Emporia with state rural water people. Our lobbyist knows that this is one of the main reasons we retain his services – to work on legislation that would get us out of the agreement. We have even offered to buy the rural water district. They won’t give an inch.
As far as the rest of the City – the last time we raised water rates was in 2002. City rates went up in 1992, from $10.60 to $11.25 for a minimum of 5,000 gallons per month. In 1999, we hired a consultant to tell us how to adjust the rates so our utility fund stayed solvent. He proposed a 90% increase and the Council was poised to institute that rate. I worked all one weekend and came back with a different plan that increased rates by $2.25 a month for the first 5,000 gallons and by $.30 a thousand for over 5,000 gallons per month. That rate was adopted and stood until 2002.
In 2002, the Chisholm Creek Utility Authority water treatment facility went on line and the water rates more than doubled. We went from adding only chlorine and one other chemical to our well water to actually treating the water. We also went, many of us, from buying bottled drinking water and salt for our water softeners, to water from the tap. And it’s some of the best tasting water in our area. But water isn’t cheap, no matter what we think.
That increase was due to the cost of treating the water, but most of all, it was due to the debt obligation incurred in building the plant. We have to make the bond payments whether we sell water or not. And wet years are great for you and me when watering our lawns and gardens, but not so great for money coming in to make those payments when billing is down. And the cost of everything goes up every year, if not every month.
The City of Wichita has debt obligations as well, but is able to spread the costs over several hundreds of thousands of people. Most of the cities in the county buy their water from Wichita but we have our own in conjunction with Bel Aire. I keep an eye on water, sewer, and tax rates around the area. We have no control over state, county, or school taxes, but do have some control over our own tax and utility rates. Here is a table that shows the rates of other small towns in our area – water, sewer, total bill. Some also have a stormwater fee in addition to what you see here. All figures are based on usage of 5,000 gallons per month.


Park City water - $28.05 sewer - $29.50 total $57.55
Kechi water - $34.15 sewer - $19.15 total $53.30
Valley Center water - $26.24 sewer - $28.09 total $56.27
Maize water - $34.73 sewer - $31.00 total $65.73
Haysville water - $11.50 sewer - $30.00 total $41.39
Newton water - $23.70 sewer - $44.80 total $67.56
Bel Aire water - $27.73 sewer - $45.00 total $72.73

Bel Aire raises its water and sewer usage charges 3% per year in January.
Valley Center raises its water and sewer base and meter charges 1.5% each year.
Kechi’s rates just went up in September, and the sewer rates may do so again.
Haysville’s sewer charge includes $15.00 for building a new plant.
Maize sewer includes $12.27 for debt service (bond payments); the water rate increases by $.25 per thousand gallons each year.
I know our water/sewer rates seem high – you know, Darrell and I pay the same rate as everyone else, and water our garden as well. Bel Aire, Valley Center, Maize and Newton will now raise their rates just a little each year, and I think that probably hurts less. Governing body members seem to think that raising the rates to keep the utility funds solvent will cost them elections. That certainly didn’t happen in 2002, and I think it probably wouldn’t now. We clearly have the smartest residents in the county – they live here, don’t they? – and when the price of milk, gasoline, cable, and everything else goes up, they know the expenses of the utilities go up, too. Our cable bill has increased 15% over the last seven years with no additional channels while Park City has managed to hold the line on utility bills for that same period. If we set aside the $1.5 million from the MTBE settlement needed for the sewer headworks that KDHE says we have to build, we should be able to hold the rates for a little longer.
No one, no one, no one wants to increase your taxes or your utility rates, but state law mandates keeping the utility funds healthy and independent of the tax funds. They must stay self-supporting.