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	The Manchester Enterprise A Heritage Newspaper Weekly Publication

Council raises water rates

By Daniel Lai, Editor

PUBLISHED: May 24, 2007

The Manchester Village Council approved an increase in water and sewer rates for all residents Monday.

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Village President Pat Vailliencourt said due to a decrease in industry moving to the area and usage numbers down, the council had to raise rates in order to meet operational costs.

"As we started losing industry a few years ago, the water and sewer fund took a hit," she said. "Last year we looked at a five year plan and began looking at how we could keep those fund balances out of the red."

According to Village Treasurer Jack Gould, water rates will increase by five percent and sewer rates by 10 percent.

Gould said the approved water rates include a monthly "ready to serve" charge and a usage (commodity) charge. The monthly "ready to serve" charge will be set at $6.12 a month. The fixed charge recovers costs that the village incurs to stand ready to serve the customer each month, regardless of how much water the customer actually uses.

The usage charge increased from $1.64 per 1,000 gallons to $2.57 per 1,000 gallons, a difference of .93 cents, he said.

The approved sewer rates also feature a monthly "ready to serve" charge and a usage charge. The sewer "ready to serve" charge was set at $14.48 and the usage charge went up an additional $2.87 a month.

"The average customer will pay roughly $31.38 a month for sewer and $19.82 a month for water," he said. "That is based on a study we did that concluded the average utility customer in Manchester uses 5,300 gallons of water a month."

The last time the council revised the village's water and sewer rates was in 2006.

"We like to look at the numbers every year and match up the operation costs with the usage and see where we stand," Gould said. "We're hoping as more manufacturing moves into the area, we'll get more usage and at least try to stay consistent with the rates."

The new rates will go into effect July 1 and will be reviewed annually, he said.