By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
While higher utility bills are rarely welcome, when it comes to things like having clean water, Village of East Troy Public Works Director Mike Miller says those couple extra dollars a year are necessary to maintaining the infrastructure of the village’s water lines.
“We’re talking tens of dollars a year,” Miller said. “People don’t complain about a $200 cable bill, or an increase in their phone bill, but when it comes to something as important as clean water, a couple of dollars more a month is too much.”
The village water utility is undergoing a rate study by the Public Service Commission to determine future water rates.
“We’ve submitted the rate case,” village Clerk-Treasurer Eileen Suhm said. “The PSC is reviewing it. After the review a public hearing will be set. They’ve said they expect the review to take through the end of the year, but I don’t know if that means the public hearing will be in December or in early 2016. I think it just depends on when the review is complete.”
The topic of a possible rate increase came up again at the Sept. 28 Village Board meeting when the board was discussing the hiring of a new DPW worker. Some of the board members didn’t want to raise the rates if it wasn’t necessary, while others recognized the need to keep the infrastructure sound.
“People in the community can’t afford a water increase,” Trustee Scott Seager at the Sept. 28 meeting. “When I ran for the board, people said we had to find a way to reduce the water rates.”
“I understand that,” Trustee Dusty Stanford said. “But we can’t ignore the infrastructure.”
The robust discussion went on for several minutes with Miller saying, “I’ve been saying raise the rates for five years now. You people should be supporting me in this.”
Miller said he’s been pushing for an increase in water rates because he’s concerned about the state of the village’s water mains, which are aging and undersized. He said it’s his job to look toward the future and the next generation.
“Our rates are right in the middle,” he said. “We’re lower than some and higher than others, but we fall in the ‘average’ range.”
For comparison, a quarterly water bill in the Village of East Troy is $90.47 for 18,750 gallons of water and the meter. In Troy Center it’s $87.75; Elkhorn, $152.60; Lake Geneva, $47.10; Fontana, $109.70; Delavan, $71.05; Darien, $132.08 and Williams Bay, $95.
“We pay about $3.57 for a 1,000 gallons of water,” Miller said. “It’s less than 2 percent of the average household income in this area.
What needs to be done
Miller said the water mains servicing the village are antiquated and inadequate for the job and should be replaced. He said the mains that were installed in the 1910s, ‘20s and ‘30s are actually in better conditions than the mains installed in the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s.
“It’s the workmanship,” Miller said. “They just constructed things better back then. We have more trouble with the newer ones failing, but the older ones are undersized and they don’t provide adequate fire protection.”
Miller said the mains built in the World War II era through the 1060s are smaller than recommended for their use in the village and are failing at a higher rate because of the lack of quality and he would like to look at replacing them as well.
“We have to protect our natural resources and clean water is something you can’t live without,” Miller said. “And it costs money to do that.”
According to a 2015 fact sheet from the PSC, water usage in the state decreased by 4.8 percent between 2012 and 2014. Since 2008, there has been a 14 percent decrease in water usage across the state. As of February 2015, the average water bill for a residential customer using 12,000 gallons of water in a quarter was $69.20.
The PSC states “it’s infrastructure-related capital costs and rising energy and chemical cost that are among the factors driving increased water bills. On average, Wisconsin water utilities increase their rates about every six years.”
