County approves rate hike

Jackson County commissioners voted to phase in increases in residential and commercial water and wastewater rates at a meeting Tuesday night. The commission also made a change in the way it does business with new customers.

The increase for residential customers ranges between 10 to 12 percent, and takes effect in the cycle that ends Feb. 24.

The increase for commercial customers is almost 40 percent and will be phased in, so the entire increase will have been applied by March 2010.

The first commercial increase also takes effect Feb. 24. The ensuing increases will go into effect at the end of August this year, the end of February next year. The final increase will occur at the end of August 2010.

In addition to the rate adjustment, the commission will no longer allow businesses and residences pay their system impact fees over time. The impact fees vary from $150 to $1,200.

The county will now demand up-front payment, because in some cases a customer who originally occupies a structure will leave before they have fully paid the impact fee.

With the incoming occupant unwilling to pay the amount owed by the last customer, it has left the county without a way to recoup the money owed.

The county also adopted a marked increase in the refundable security deposit it requires of residential sewer customers, raising it from $25 to $125.

Commercial customers who are making a new tap into the sewer system pay an impact fee of $1,200, while an impact fee of $200 is required for customers who are moving into a structure that is already on the system.

The water rate increases for residential customers move from a minimum monthly charge of $8 to a minimum of $9, a 12.5 percent increase. The service charge on each 1,000 gallons of water used by a residential customer goes from $2 to $2.20, a 10 percent increase.

The minimum monthly residential sewer rate will also go from $8 to $9. The sewer service charge, based on the amount of water a customer uses, rises from $3.80 per 1,000 gallons to $4.18 per 1,000 gallons, a 10 percent increase.

Right now, water rates for commercial customers include a $20 minimum monthly charge. That will go to $22 next month, to $24.20 in September, to $26.60 next February, and to $29 in February 2010.

Commercial customers will also see a staggered increase in the per-gallon charge for water service. Currently, the charge is $3.92 per 1,000 gallons. Next month, it will go to $4.31, and in August, to $4.74. In February 2010, the commercial rate rises to $5.21, and in August 2010 it will go to $5.61.

The new minimum monthly sewer charge for commercial customers is identical to their new monthly minimum water charge.

The per-gallon charge for wastewater services is being increased from $5.48 per 1,000 gallons to $6.03 per thousand gallons in February. In September, it will rise to $6.63. In February 2010 it goes to $7.29, and to $7.84 in March 2010.

The county had not increased water utility rates since 2002. In their action Tuesday, the board voted to review rates on an annual basis from now on, so that adjustments can be made on a timely basis if warranted.

The county serves several households and business along and near the Interstate 10 corridor, leading into the east side of Marianna.

The increases were adopted in part so the county can pay debt associated with system improvements.

Although the county will get some grant money, a low-interest loan backed by the federal USDA Rural Development program is also part of the $3 million financing package. Of the total, $1 million is in the form of a grant and $2 million is a loan.