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Residents may see another increase in water rate

EAST LIVERPOOL — With costs rising and the number of customers decreasing, city residents could be seeing a water rate hike in the near future.

During a work session of city council’s utilities committee Tuesday, Utilities Director Tim Clark outlined the reasons he believes an increase is necessary, despite a 14 percent increase that was approved in October 2015.

Clark said the 2015 increase was expected to generate an additional $308,000 annually but actually only $232,684 was realized, with $53,517 of that earmarked for the R&I fund.

In addition, the cost allocation charged to the water department by the city increased in 2016 by $10,840, with union workers also receiving a salary raise that cost an additional $18,651.

Other expenses that arose in 2016 included software conversions, $17,000; IT support for computers, $6,600; EPA testing, $17,000; and a $43,005 loan for a water truck that was incorrectly borrowed from the R&I fund.

Clark noted that, without $301,460 placed into the budget from the R&I fund in 2016, “We wouldn’t have made it through the year in the black.”

In addition to rising expenses, Clark said where there once were 6,300 active water accounts on record, now only 5,159 accounts exist and of those, 520 are inactive, either for sale, empty, shut off or torn down, with the planning department having demolished 135 structures.

Of the remaining active accounts, Clark said, between 400 and 500 are consistently delinquent, with 200 to 300 of those with signed payment agreements.

As of January, 24.27 percent of water accounts were in arrears to the tune of $99,615.91.

Clark proposed another 14 percent increase, which would raise the current $7.36 per 1,000 gallon rate to $8.40, with a 2,000 gallon minimum charged.

This, he said, would generate an additional $357,795 annually, and since he does not believe that in itself will be enough to keep the budget in the black, Clark proposed dropping the percentage earmarked for the R&I fund from 23 to 18 percent.

Clark told the committee this would balance shortages, put money aside in the proper fund for road repairs, allow for hiring two assistant maintenance workers which will allow for two, three-man crews for excavations while cutting down on extensive overtime costs.

The additional workers would also be able to make a dent in the shut off of delinquent accounts, Clark added.

Lastly, he said the increase would allow him to revisit a Rural Communities Assistance Partnership grant program that provided equipment, training and assistance in plotting coordinates of valves and fire hydrants utilizing a GPS program. This would lessen the cost of man hours in the future locating valves and curb boxes.

The committee was able to compare city water rates with other communities with a chart provided by Clark, which showed, for example, Wellsville pays $29.90 per 2,000 gallons; Leetonia, $24.40 per 2,000; Toronto, $24 per 2,000; Lisbon, $6.80 per 1,000 gallons; Columbiana, $6.54 per 1,000 gallons; Sebring, $26.43 per 2,000; and Niles, $2.98 per 1,000.

President of Council John Torma pointed out the reason East Liverpool has been able to maintain a lower rate than many communities is because it owns its own water system.

“We don’t ever want anyone to take over our water department,” Torma insisted.

Councilman Fred Rayl expressed his concern that the $1.04 increase will not be sufficient to bring the water budget into line, saying, “You sold me on this increase, but I’m concerned it won’t be enough. There’s a real possibility we could be back here next year (considering another increase).”

Councilman Ray Perorazio agreed, saying, “Just make sure this is enough.”

Committee Chairman Tom Cunningham stressed that council members can’t be concerned with enacting a rate increase during an election year, saying, “It has to be a common sense decision based on what’s best for our residents.”

No decision was made on the proposal, with another meeting planned for 5:30 p.m. March 9 to further discuss the issue.

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