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Courier-Journal Louisville, KY
(c) Copyright 2002, The Courier-Journal. All Rights Reserved.
Monday, July 8, 2002
NEWS; B
MSD board expected to raise water rates 6.5 percent starting next month
SHAFER SHELDON
The Courier-Journal
The Metropolitan Sewer District is planning to raise its rates 6.5
percent, effective Aug. 1.
The increase will apply to about 204,000 residential, 10,000 commercial
and 200 industrial customers, said MSD acting Executive Director Bud
Schardein.
The monthly bill for the typical residential family of four that uses
12,000 gallons of water a month will rise to $16.39, from $15.40. Sewer
charges are reflected as a line item on water bills mailed every two
months by the Louisville Water Co.
The increase probably will be reflected first on September bills.
The MSD board gave preliminary approval to the rate increase in May and
is scheduled to adopt a resolution authorizing final approval when it
meets today, Schardein said.
Only three speakers showed up at a public hearing that MSD's board
conducted on the proposed rate increase June 20; all three spoke in
favor of it.
The increase is one of the higher ones for MSD in recent years,
Schardein acknowledged. Residential rates rose 5 percent last year and
4.8 percent in 2000.
Schardein said the latest increase will help pay for an ambitious
capital-construction program and help MSD keep pace with ever-increasing
energy costs, which rose more than $1 million in the past year.
MSD customers still are paying less for sewer service than in many other
cities, Schardein said, citing a recent study by the Washington-based
Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies that found that the
average monthly sewer bill in metropolitan areas nationwide was $19.80.
The 6.5 percent increase is not subject to approval of the Louisville
Board of Aldermen or Jefferson Fiscal Court.
Alderman Steve Magre said the city gets relatively few complaints about
MSD service. He said he didn't consider the 6.5 percent increase "out
of line, if MSD officials follow through with the projects they have
started. . . . They are doing a good job."
The MSD board has approved an operations budget of about $75 million for
the fiscal year that began July 1 and a capital budget of about $104
million. Both figures are down slightly from last fiscal year.
Revenue from the rate increase primarily will go toward paying for
ongoing projects financed with a $250 million bond issue that MSD sold
in 1999 - including about $70 million in improvements at the Morris
Forman Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The bond issue also covered more than $100 million of improvements
planned through 2006 at MSD's regional treatment plants - Hite Creek,
Cedar Creek, West County, Jeffersontown and Floyds Fork.
Much of the work focuses on increasing the plants' treatment capacity.