- Hub staff
In a report to Monday's council meeting, Kate Allan, Director of Corporate Services, reminded us that “It is City policy to ensure that both water
and wastewater are financially sustainable through rates and that taxation is not used to offset any of the cost of providing the service.”
Council approved a rate increase of 5%, beginning with the July 2022 billing cycle.
Wastewater costs are currently covered with a surcharge of 124% of the customer's water charges. From 2016 to 2019, this rate was increased from 102%, with no change to the water rate itself through those years. A comprehensive rate study was undertaken in 2020, with a recommendation to raise the water rates by 5% each year to “balance capital needs, repairs and replacement, and affordability.” The council decision to keep water rates static for 2020 and only increase them 4% in 2021 during the pandemic meant a revision in the longer-term plan.
There are 7000 water accounts in Owen Sound. These include residences, businesses, institutions and city facilities. Water consumption, and therefore revenue, has declined over the past three years. During Covid, as people worked from home and businesses and public buildings were closed, that decline was even steeper. But the system has fixed costs, so as Ms. Allan said, whether we are treating 100% of the water we could be treating or 50% of the water we could be treating (as we are now), our costs are relatively the same. The plant remains the same size, and the same staffing is needed.It is a fixed cost system.
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Continuing increases in insurance and operating expenses – chemicals to treat water and waste water – have to be estimated for the coming years. More than a dozen large projects are planned to replace aging and failing infrastructure, and to meet the needs of developments such as the new apartments at 28th/4th West.
The full report, and video of the presentations by the Director of Corporate Services, Manager of Public Works and Manager of Engineering Services can be found here.
