New water rate notices sent out
Notices went out in the mail Friday notifying Colusa residents of the new proposed water rates.
The notification begins the lengthy Proposition 218 process that will allow Colusa residents to weigh in on the new increase.
Rates are scheduled to jump some 300 percent over the next five years, in order for the city to meet state and federal mandates for clean water and water conservation, city officials said.
"The current fixed rate does not provide much incentive for people to conserve," said Doug Dove, a city consultant.
Dove said Colusa is looking at about $5 million in state mandated well and infrastructure improvements, as well as orders from the state to reduce water usage 20 percent over the next 10 years.
"The good news is that the improvements (to the system) should improve the quality of water," Dove said. "It will taste better and have less odor."
The City Council has scheduled a public hearing for April 20, the same day the council hopes to swear in a new member to fill the vacancy created by Bob MacKaben's resignation.
If approved, Colusa residents with the smallest meter will see an increase in their monthly base rate, from $11.45 to $18.89, by July. By 2014, the rate is expected to climb to $28.78.
In addition to the rate hikes, the city plans to eliminate most of the water that customers receive with their base rate — about 5,000 gallons .
The city intends to provide 3 hundred cubic feet (2,244 gallons) as incentive to maintain trees and landscaping in the city's right-a-way, Dove said.
The improvements includes the drilling of two new wells and four new well filters, city officials said.
Customers inside the city limits who use more than 3 hundred cubic feet of water will pay 24 cents for each hundred cubic feet (748 gallons). Customers outside city limits will pay 30 cents for each hundred cubic feet of additional water.
Dove said residents tend to use 11 to 32 hundred cubic feet of water in the summertime.
The new rate, he said, is significant enough to provide incentive for customers to conserve water wherever possible.
City officials are hopeful the city will receive a combination loan and grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the improvements, which includes the drilling of two new wells and four new well filters, city officials said.
City Manager Jan McClintock said the more the city receives in grants, the less they will need in loans.
If the city receives more than 30 percent in grants, the city may be able to defer the increases scheduled after 2011 or 2012, McClintock said.
The city has scheduled three Town Hall meetings to inform the public about the proposed rate increase.
