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7.7.05 Utility board OKs higher fees, dumps property tax The Metropolitan Utilities District board on Wednesday replaced its property tax for fire hydrant maintenance with an increase in the utility's water fees. Generally speaking, customers whose homes are valued at less than $146,000 will pay more to M.U.D. because of the change. That's because the $10.20 yearly increase in fees is more than they've been paying for hydrant maintenance through property taxes. The change, proposed with little public notice, would free the utility from the Legislature's restrictions on property tax revenue, although M.U.D. President Tom Wurtz said that was not the reason he asked for it. Wurtz said the shift is aimed at simplifying things. Most utilities, he said, recover hydrant costs via monthly bills, not from property tax revenues. Having a portion of property taxes dedicated to M.U.D. is "archaic" and confusing, Wurtz said, because customers think of their monthly utility bill as covering costs. "Frankly, it is perceived as double taxation," he said. M.U.D. owns about 24,000 hydrants in Douglas and Sarpy Counties and is collecting about $1.8 million this year in property taxes to pay for their maintenance. That revenue came from a property tax of .0069 cent per $100 valuation assessed by the two counties on behalf of M.U.D. For the owner of a house valued at $100,000, that translates into $6.90 in annual taxes. M.U.D. is replacing that with an increase in the monthly service fee, with the amount of the increase based on the size of service connections. For most homeowners, the increase amounts to 85 cents a month. The fee increase will generate about $300,000 more next year than what M.U.D. is allowed to collect in property taxes. That still leaves the utility about $300,000 short of the amount needed to fully depreciate hydrant costs. |
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