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MANSFIELD — Residents could see a 7.7 percent increase in their water and sewer bills as part of a series of rate hikes over several years to fund major utility system improvements.
The City Council will consider the staff proposal at its meeting tonight. The increase, which would take effect in February, would be the second of six rate hikes over the next several years. The first increase, including 12 percent for residential rates, took effect in April. Bud Ervin, the city’s utility operations director, said subsequent increases will be calculated each year but will be gradually smaller. "This is based on need and projected growth," Ervin said. "The utility is completely funded by rates. It’s not tax-supported." The biggest utility project is the ongoing $24 million expansion of the water treatment plant, projected to be completed by the summer of 2011. The expansion will increase its treatment capacity by 50 percent, to 45 million gallons a day. That would serve 116,000 people, nearly twice Mansfield’s current population of about 60,000. It will also provide the city with water it can sell, Ervin said. The higher rates will also help the city honor its covenant with bond rating agencies, which requires the city to keep 30 percent more revenue in the utility fund than is needed to cover its debt payments and operating and maintenance costs, he said.Rate details The monthly bill for average residential water use, about 10,000 gallons per month, would be $38.85, an increase of $2, or 5.4 percent. The cost of sewer service for the same water use would be $33.52, an increase of $3.17, or 10.4 percent, for a total water-sewer bill of $72.37. For residents who use no more than the 2,000 gallons included in the base rate — a goal of many on fixed incomes — the combined water-sewer bill would increase 84 cents, or 6.5 percent, to $13.80 per month. The rate adjustments affect businesses, churches and organizations the same as residential, except that their sewer charges are not capped. Residential users don’t pay for sewer use beyond 14,000 gallons a month.School auditorium The council will meet with the Mansfield Economic Development Corp. board at the beginning of the meeting to discuss a proposal that the Mansfield school district build its $39 million performing arts and professional training center at The Shops at Broad Street. It will be the first public discussion of the deal, which has been negotiated for weeks in executive session, and residents will have a chance to weigh in. The negotiations over a proposed land swap between the city and school district and other issues have hit several snags. Last week, the school board gave the city and developer of The Shops, a planned 1.2 million-square-foot shopping complex, a Nov. 17 deadline to come up with agreeable terms. The council will also again consider allowing the school district to open an emergency-access route at Asa Low Intermediate School for general use. District officials said it would improve traffic snarls in an adjacent neighborhood caused by parents dropping off and picking up their children at school. Neighbors on Clover Hill Road oppose the move, saying it would only add traffic and increase hazards for children who walk and bike to school.
When and where The council meeting begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 1200 E. Broad St.
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