Residents surprised by high utility bills

The new water and sewer rates that went into effect in July have generated plenty of discussion in the city of Washington. Many Washington residents who got their utility bills earlier this week were alarmed at the size of the increase in their bills, and they let city hall know about it.

Washington City Clerk Illa Earnest said city hall has four phone lines, but that wasn?t enough to handle the call volume earlier this week.

?On Tuesday, the four lines were lit up all day,? said Earnest. ?We had three people answering phones, and sometimes I would get the spillover.?

Earnest said she was asked why the rates apply even to water that was used in June, before the ordinance passed July 6 and before it was published in The Journal July 8. Earnest said the ordinance applies to the billing and not to the meter reading. Anyone who received a water bill after July 8 was subject to the higher rates, even for water consumed before that date.

?The council?s intent was for the rates to be in effect for the first billing after the rate was approved,? said Earnest. ?The soonest we could put the new rates in effect was the billing at the end of July, and the only way to make that work was to use the July readings. It takes most of a month to read the whole town because our readers are part-time. They don?t read all day, every day.?

The base fee for every customer in the city at least doubled because of the ordinance. Before the passage of the ordinance, residences and businesses paid a base fee of $17.50 per month while multi-family dwellings paid $12 per month. Residential and multi-family base fees are now $35.

The base fee is also $35 for businesses that use up to 1,400 cubic feet of water. Businesses that use between 1,400 and 15,000 cubic feet pay a base charge of double that, $70. The next tier, from 15,000 to 100,000, pays double that figure at $140 as a base rate. A business using more than 100,000 cubic feet pays a base charge of $280.

The variable sewer rate, based on consumption, rose 176 percent from $1.27 per 100 cubic feet of water used to $3.50.

Residents saw their water rates rise as well. Water rates rose 10 percent from $1.87 to $2.06 on those who use between 0 and 1,400 cubic feet of water. The rate rose 15 percent, from $1.76 to $2.02 for those consuming between 1,400 and 15,000, and 20 percent, from $1.52 to $1.82, for those consuming between 15,000 and 100,000. Those who consume more than 100,000 cubic feet of water saw an increase of 25 percent, from $1.20 to $1.50. The water service charge also increased, from $9.50 to $12.

The ordinance increased the garbage and recycling fee from $2.35 to $4.35 per month. This fee applies only to residential customers.

Residential customers pay at least $20 more and many are paying $30 or $40 more in utilities per month. A residential customer who used 100 cubic feet of water per month used to pay about $33 per month. Under the new rates, the customer pays $56. Someone who used 400 cubic feet paid $43, and that has jumped to $73. A resident who used 700 cubic feet has seen their bill go from $53 to $90. Those who consume 1,000 cubic feet pay $44 more in utilities, from $63 to $107.