City Council Passes Water, Sewer Increase, Tables Budget
Council will vote to adopt the FY 2013 budget at its meeting June 18.
At its meeting Monday Smyrna City Council voted to pass a water and sewer increase, but tabled the adoption of the Fiscal Year 2013 budget.
Council voted 7-0 to enact an eight percent increase to the city’s tiered water rates and a four percent increase to its sewer rates. Here’s what the increase looks like:
|
|
FY 2012 |
FY 2013 |
|
Tier 1 |
$3 |
$3.23 |
|
Tier 2 |
$3.94 |
$4.30 |
|
Tier 3 |
$4.93 |
$5.36 |
|
Tier 4 |
$5.77 |
$6.28 |
|
Sewer Rate |
$6.55 |
$6.81 |
The city buys its water from the Cobb-Marietta Water Authority, a wholesale supplier. The water authority informed the city that it would be implementing an annual eight percent rate increase effective Jan. 2012 through 2018. As of Jan. 1, 2012, the city of Smyrna pays the water authority $2.34 per 1,000 gallons of water. Until now, the city has been absorbing the increase. The rate increase is being used to fund the water authority infrastructure improvements.
“Honestly, if we want to be a fiscally responsible government, which I think we do and I think we are, we have to pass this rate increase on,” said Ward 3 Council Representative Teri Anuelwicz. “So that’s what this is. There’s something fundamental that the citizenry expects beyond police and fire tap they can turn on their tap and get clean, safe water and as much of it as they need. And that is what we’re working to preserve.”
Council also approved an ordinance that makes future Smyrna increases effective the same time the CMWA increases take effect. This means Smyrna water customers can expect another eight percent increase to their water rates in Jan. 2013.
One item Council didn’t vote on was the FY 2013 budget. Ward 1 Council Representative Melleny Pritchett noted that historically the budget has been passed at the second Council meeting in June, so tabling the budget does not put the city behind schedule.
Anuelwicz said the Council is taking its time to make sure they get the budget right.
“I scanned the headlines this afternoon and saw that governments around the state and throughout the metro area are talking about everything from layoffs to raising millage rates to closing multiple fire stations,” she said. “None of those things are in anyway in this city’s orbit. We are building a fire station in Ward 7. As Ms. Pritchett said historically we’ve approved the budget at the second June meeting. We just want to take a little more time as Council to hone the budget.”
Ward 7 Council Representative said he looked forward to hearing input from citizens, though none spoke at the second public hearing for the budget held during the meeting.
Check back later with Smyrna-Vinings Patch for more news from Monday’s Smyrna City Council meeting.
Lissa K.
12:57 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Melleny Pritchett was the one to say that property at the corner of Kings Springs and Concord could be sold at a profit. She was counting the city's chickens before they hatched. And they hatched a park.
Teri Anuelwicz has some phone calls to return. People in her ward have complained about unreturned calls. She posts that cell phone quicker than two shakes of a sheep's tail.
smurf
3:27 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The city is passing far more cost on to retail consumers than the increased cost of the water it buys wholesale...When the water authority on which Mayor Bacon sits raises the wholesale rate by a certain percentage it is misleading to say that same percentage must be passed on to retail customers...for example 8% of a $1 dollar wholesale is 8 cents but 8% of retail at $2 is 16 cents. The city is thus INCREASING the cost of water to its customers at a rate much higher than it is, in fact, being charged itself. It is misleading to the public to say it is just passing the rate increase along. This is simply wrong.
Smyrna Resident
5:28 pm on Thursday, June 7, 2012
Cobb County's year runs January-December and Smyrna's runs from July-June.
It the water rates are calculated every December to start in January of the next year how does the city know every December they will be raised 8%. The calculations are based on fluctuating variables.
Also the water authority and city's years are not in sync.
To quote from the above comment "this is simply wrong."
Smyrna Resident
5:32 pm on Thursday, June 7, 2012
"Ward 7 Council Representative said he looked forward to hearing input from citizens, though none spoke at the second public hearing for the budget held during the meeting."
The budget has not been made available for anyone to see. So no citizen was able to speak about it at the council meeing.