Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The county is looking for ways to reduce the projected utility hike.
- GOVERNMENT
- Justin Ove
-
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Cobb County is investigating ways to alleviate the projected eight percent increase in water rates that will be passed on to consumers of the Cobb County Water System. Commission Chairman Tim Lee suggested looking at refinancing the Cobb-Marietta Water Authority's debt. With the current low interest rate, this plan could bring significant savings to the county and its water consumers. As reported in the Marietta Daily Journal, there was a transfer of $20 million from the Water System to the general fund to help balance the budget combined with a rate increase. This shuffling of funds has been decried by several people, including District 3 Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, as a back-door tax hike. Don’t miss any of the local discussions you care…
Thursday, August 16, 2012
An estimated 2,100 water bills are at least six months overdue, and roughly $300,000 in total is owed to the city.
The Powder Springs City Council seemed to be agreement Wednesday on partnering with Transworld Systems collection agency to work on a previously estimated $300,000 in unpaid water bills. Finance Director Amy Davis first brought the proposal to the council in May, and, if a memorandum of understanding can be drawn up in the next few days, members may approve the partnership at Monday night's meeting. The city disconnects service to about 80 accounts a month for nonpayments. The disconnect comes 15 days after a notice is sent by mail regarding the money owed. An estimated 2,100 bills are at least six months old, and they're “getting older every day," Davis said at Wednesday's work session. She said she'd like to put a clause in customers' …
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Transworld Systems would initially charge a flat rate per account, but once "intensive collections" begin at 120 days of missing water and sewer payments, the company would get 50 percent.
Powder Springs officials are considering contracting with a collection agency to help cut down on the $300,000 owed to the city in water and sewer bills, and prevent such a backlog from growing again. The city—which provides for those in the city limits and some just outside—disconnects service to about 80 accounts a month for nonpayments, officials discussed at Wednesday’s work session at City Hall. The disconnect comes 15 days after a notice is sent by mail regarding the money owed. “But after we cut them off, we really have no process in place at the moment to go after those fees,” said Finance Director Amy Davis, who was hired in April. “A lot of them might come back and pay the bill, but then they don’t pay that extra 15 days and the …
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Costs will be going up for businesses and some residential customers, while those who use smaller amounts of water will see a decrease.
With the City Council giving their approval Monday night, Powder Springs water and sewer customers will see new rates—mostly increases but some opportunities for decreases—starting April 1. “It hurts us to pass on a rate increase,” Mayor Pat Vaughn said. “We don’t like to do that, and unfortunately, it has now caught up with us.” At the end of fiscal 2011, the water-sewer enterprise fund had a deficit of about $295,000. And once March ends, the city will have lost about $90,000 since January following a 12 percent water-sewer increase from the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority. Changes by Powder Springs include adding a $50 sewer deposit to new customers only, in addition to the existing $50 water deposit. This is to combat those who …
Thursday, February 16, 2012
The Powder Springs City Council is set to vote Monday on a restructuring method that would stop the city from losing $30,000 monthly following Cobb's new rates.
With Cobb’s higher utility rates taking effect at the start of January, Powder Springs lost $30,000 last month and is set to continue to lose that amount monthly because its own rates to city customers haven’t caught up. The City Council will vote on a new rate structure for water and sewer Monday that officials believe will fix that problem, as well as create a fairer balance between what residents and businesses pay. Further, the new rates would comply with Georgia’s Water Stewardship Act, which encourages water conservation through lower rates for lower usage and higher rates through higher usage. This means that smaller households will see a decrease in their water bills, while larger ones will see an increase. This is the same plan …
Friday, January 13, 2012
Reasons for the change include compensating for the cost increase from the county water system, and updating the more than 20-year-old ordinance behind the rates.
Powder Springs is considering restructuring how it charges for water and sewer, which would result in lower rates for those who use less and higher rates for those who use more. One reason for the effort would be to help compensate for the rise in rates from the county water system, which is where Powder Springs runs the utilities through. Another would be to update the ordinance behind the rates because it is 20-plus years old. Yet another is to address Georgia’s Water Stewardship Act, which encourages water conservation through lower rates for lower usage. “All that means is the more you use, the more you pay per thousand gallons,” Bill Powell with the Georgia Rural Water Association told the City Council at Wednesday’s work session. …
Monday, January 2, 2012
The increase is meant to assist in rising costs for Cobb's water system.
Higher water rates started for Cobb residents on Sunday. The increase is 6 percent, though the average customer will see only a 2 percent increase since the price is divided into tiers and climbs with every 1,000 gallons used, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The fee for wastewater also rose 2 percent, the AJC reported. "This rate adjustment is needed to meet increasing costs for water supply, system operations and maintenance, and proactive management of our system," the county's website says. Here's the breakdown, as laid out by the county: Tier 1: $2.83/1,000 gallons (No Change) Tier 2: from $4.11 to $4.36/1,000 gallons Tier 3: from $5.12 to $5.43/1,000 gallons Tier 4: from $6.00 to $6.36/1,000 gallons Tier 5: from $7.78 …
Ra Barr
9:51 pm on Friday, June 8, 2012
Stormwater fee for a house is based on one REU regardless of whether the property is owner-occupied or a rental unit. How then can a rental unit be considered "commercial" property for water-rate purposes? Seems to be a problem with definitions. How is a water-rate ERU determined? What is the relationship between water usage and the number of square feet of a building? more ›