YOU ARE HERE: Central Kentucky Home→Collections

WMU fee schedule raises proposed

September 08, 2006|Brittany Griffin

In order to even out service costs for an already maxed-out staff of Winchester Municipal Utilities, the company proposed that certain fee be increases at the regular meeting of the WMU Commission on Thursday.The largest increases would involve service calls and water connection fees. Water connection service calls after business hours from 3:30 to 11 p.m. would be $50, than $100 from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Miscellaneous service call costs would not change. Previously, water connection service calls cost $30 after hours. There was no mention of miscellaneous service calls in the original ordinance.

Immediately following the proposal, general manager Vernon Azevedo presented a project summary sheet with more than $48 million in current projects.

"I can't verify it, but I'd say that's an all-time record," he said. "We're at capacity as a staff."

While the increase in projects was not necessarily a reason for additional fees, he said, the staff does need re-cooperative costs for the expensive services, and the projects were used as an example of how thinly the staff is already stretched.

At the meeting, Vernon explained that while WMU will answer service calls "24-7," utility companies in Mount Sterling, Versailles and Richmond will not answer after hours. Some people also abuse this service, he said. For example, they will call about a backed up sewer line when they really should call a plumber.

"It's easier to call us at 12:30 at night and pay $20 than to call a plumber," he said.

While no commissioners seemed to argue with the reasoning for the proposed fees, some did say they were concerned about the amount of the proposed increases.

"I just need to go over them," said Chairman Dexter Noble in an interview after the meeting. Commissioner Margaret Seals agreed. She said during the meeting that "some of the figures look a little high to me."

"We just want to be fair," she said.

Both commissioners were concerned about the increases for service calls and water connection.

In an interview after the meeting, Commissioner Gerry Yeiser wanted to emphasize for customers that these were not rate increases, but user fees.

Many customers, he said, may have never used some of the fees that could be increased. The proposal was "just another step in trying to better manage our money" without raising rates, he said.

WMU has not had a rate increase since 1999.

The commission decided to defer action on the fee service schedule until the October meeting.

|

|

|