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11.21.00 Public hearing on 2001 budget and water rate increase The Metropolitan Utilities District Board will hold a public hearing at 8:30 a.m., Friday, December 1, on the District's proposed $309.7 million budget for 2001, including a 3 percent water rate increase that will cost the average household less than $5 per year. The hearing will be at the District's headquarters, 1723 Harney St. The proposed water rate will increase the annual water bill of an average household -- one using 110,000 gallons of water per year -- by $4.68, from $157.41 to $162.09. The rate increase, which would provide revenue to finance the new Platte West Water Treatment Plant, would become effective April 1. Next year's proposed budget will be 13.8 percent higher than this year's estimated cost of $272.1 million. The District expects to spend $46.1 million to cover the higher prices it expects to pay for gas on the resale market. The gas department's budget totals $238.2 million, compared with the $194.9 million estimated for 2000. There is no gas rate increase proposed for the 2001 budget. We have not raised our base rate since 1992. The cost of natural gas at the wellhead, which has gone up, is passed directly to the cusotmer. The water department's budget totals $71.5 million, compared with the $77.3 million estimated for 2000. M.U.D. has implemented water rate increases to support the new treatment plant since 1978, but not every year. Since 1993, the board adopted annual increases ranging from 3 percent to 5.5 percent. The revenue base will support financing for the $293 million plant, to be built at 216 & Q Sts. If estimated costs for the plant do not increase, this would be the last water rate increase to build the facility. The plant would add 100 million gallons a day to M.U.D.'s water treatment capacity, which is 234 million gallons a day. The plant is scheduled to go online in 2007, if the District receives the permit from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in 2002. Despite the rate increases, M.U.D. charges one of the lowest water rates in the Midwest, said Roger Burmeister, manager of Rates and Regulatory Affairs. When adjusted for inflation, the average household will pay less for water next year than in 1978, Burmeister said. M.U.D. provides retail or wholesale water service to more than 169,600 customers in the Omaha metro area.
The annual cost of water for the average residential customer, who uses 110,000 gallons of water per year, would increase $4.68 from $157.41 to $162.09 on April 1, 2001. Even with the proposed rate increase, M.U.D. customer-owners will continue to enjoy among the lowest water rates in the Midwest. One penny buys 10 gallons of M.U.D. tap water.
*As of April 1, 2000. M.U.D. water meters measure use in ccfs and these are shown as billing units on the statement. One ccf = 100 cubic feet of water or 748 gallons. |
Summer water use in metro area Construction Progress Photos Water Plant Wellfield: |
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