City proposes increasing water rates

The city of Bonners Ferry will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, to take public comment on a proposal to raise city water rates by $17 to $21 per dwelling unit to keep up with increased costs.

According to city administrator Steve Boorman, residences served by lines one-inch or smaller could see their rates go from $29 per month to $40.14, wholesale customers served by four-inch lines could see rates go up from $1,204.18 per month to $1,666.75.

The reasons for the proposed increase is to cover maintenance and operations costs, pay the costs of water projects not covered by grants funding but which were mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency, and to cover bond payments.

“These are just proposals at this point,” Boorman said. “These proposed rates set the upper limit only, and the city council can accept lower numbers.”

The only users whose rates wouldn't go up under the proposal are commercial/industrial users served by three or four-inch lines.

The biggest reason for the increase proposal, Boorman said, is to meet water quality regulations that are mandated by the state and federal governments.

“There's nothing driving this more than to meet the mandatory EPA regulations,” he said. “It's outside our contral. To provide municipal water, we have to meet the requirements.”

It costs the about $50,000 a year, he said, just on chemicals needed to meet current EPA discharge requirements, Boorman said, and it appears that those standards will become even more stringent in the near future.

Also adding to the need are various projects that have been done and are currently going on to recover from the 2003 Myrtle Creek Fire and to tie in the city system with the north and south water districts, which have cost around $6.6-million to date.

The meeting is open to everyone in the city, and those requiring special accommodations due to a disability should call City Hall, 267-3105, at least two days prior to the hearing so arrangements can be made.