City officials say higher utility rates are needed to keep Columbia's aging infrastructure running, but Water and Light Advisory Board members said they want more answers before asking residents to pay a larger monthly bill.
The Water and Light Advisory Board voted Tuesday morning to recommend City Council move forward with proposed water and electric rate increases, while also requesting additional financial information before the council’s final vote.
City utilities officials argue the increases are necessary to maintain the city's infrastructure and keep pace with rising costs.
The recommendation comes ahead of City Council's July 20 meeting, where the proposed 10% water rate and 6% electric rate increases will be introduced. The council is expected to vote on the increases Aug. 3.
But some residents say they feel like they are being left in the dark.
"There's no homework being done, and I don't understand what's going on," said Traci Wilson-Kleekamp vice president of community organization Race Matters, Friends. "And the public doesn't either. Raising our rates 10% without knowing what the impact is going to be to people, a 10% and a 6%, is also crazy."
Erin Keys, the city's utilities director, said some residents will be affected more than others.
"It really impacts those users who place a peak demand on the system," Keys said. "So, filling up swimming pools and irrigation, that sort of thing, those are the types of users that will see this increase."
Wilson-Kleekamp said it's not only people who use a lot of water every month who are going to be affected.
"At the end of the day, it hurts poor people, but it also hurts all of us in different ways," Wilson-Kleekamp said. "People have a lot less trust in government, because none of it is making one bit of sense."
Members of the board cited national affordability concerns as a factor in the proposed increase.
Future utility improvements
Keys said the proposed water increase comes from a cost-of-service study completed last year and is intended to keep the city's system financially sustainable.
"We showed the Water and Light Advisory Board today that even with this 10% increase, (the) water bill for the users that use the same amount of (water) year-round is still going to be less than what their bill would've been two years ago," Keys said.
Keys said the proposed electric rate increase would help maintain the utility system while keeping customer impacts manageable.
Renee Carter, president of Race Matters, Friends, said the impact of the increases will be felt either way.
"If we didn't have our own utility, our city would be bankrupt. The ratepayers and those who earn the least are going to feel the biggest impact," Carter said.
Keys said, "If we don't have the funds to maintain our infrastructure, then that means we defer maintenance, which means when there's an emergency, it's even more expensive to fix and repair."
If approved by City Council, the new rates would take effect Oct. 1.
Water treatment improvements
Board members also reviewed a proposed payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) abatement plan tied to improvements at the city's water treatment plant along Route K.
The PILOT program is a payment the utilities department makes to the city in place of traditional property taxes on utility-owned property. The water treatment plant’s appraised value is expected to increase following planned improvements, which could increase the payment amount.
The Water and Light Advisory Board is asking the Finance Department to consider a 10-year freeze on the updated property evaluation before presenting the proposal to City Council on July 20.
But Wilson-Kleekamp said the proposal does not solve the problems driving the utility changes.
The improvements include upgrades to the plant’s basins, which help improve the treatment process and maintain reliable water service. The facility was originally constructed in the 1970s and requires updates to meet current operational needs, said Columbia Utilities spokesperson Jason West.
Board members proposed phasing the improvements into the utility's asset base over 10 years beginning in fiscal year 2027. The board said the phased approach would help reduce immediate financial impacts and spread costs over time.
Smart meter project moved forward
The board also received an update on Columbia's proposed Advanced Metering Infrastructure project. KOMU 8 previously reported the $42 million smart meter project would replace aging electric and water meters with technology that improves billing accuracy, provides residents with more detailed utility data and allows outages to be detected more quickly.
The proposed project is facing criticism from some residents who say the city needs to address concerns about spending before moving forward.
"I feel like our public utility has become a cash cow for incompetence," Wilson-Kleekamp said.
During Tuesday's meeting, officials said the project would likely be financed through loans or special obligation bonds, with debt payments spread over approximately 10 years.
"Many of the systems in some parts of the country are 20 years old, and they're already on their second phase," Keys said. "So, in that respect, we're a little bit behind, but we're also poised to be able to benefit from the best technology that's in place right now."
Wilson-Kleekamp said earlier action on the project could have helped the city better understand customer usage and plan for future energy needs.
"They should have done (the project) five years ago," Wilson-Kleekamp said. "Had they had done that, they would know how much energy those houses are using so they could come up with a plan for conservation."
She said decisions about utility projects should include more input from the people who pay for them.
"It doesn't belong to the mayor, and it doesn't belong to the Water and Light Board. It belongs to us," Wilson-Kleekamp said.
