Board OKs 3% water rate increase

Village of Belgium residents will see an increase in their water bills this fall with more bumps to come.

The Village Board last week unanimously approved a simplified rate case increase of 3%, taking the recommendation of the Public Works and Public Utilities committees from their meeting in June.

That means the average homeowner paying $13.72 more per year — “a very minimal increase” — according to Village Treasurer Vickie Boehnlein.

The village approved simplified rate increases about every other year since 2002 until 2016. Increases were implemented in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012.

When the village tried to get a larger, a conventional rate increase through, a more complex process, in 2014, the Public Service Commission recommended a 66.5% hike to ensure the water utility’s stability.

That caused Boehnlein to try to get the village back on track with frequent simplified rate cases.

“Every time we delay doing the simplified rate case means when we get to a point where we need to do a full rate case we’re going to need that much bigger of an increase again,” she said.

“My recommendation is that we shoot for every other year at least. Try to keep these 3% increases going so that we don’t have such a huge increase later, as long as we’re eligible.”

Trustee Josh Borden asked when the village will no longer need rate increases.

Director of Public Works Dan Birenbaum said the increases are recommended by the PSC.

The village, Boehnlein said, must meet financial eligibility requirements. It already met the requirement for a 3% simplified rate increase.

The water rate, she said, is supposed to fund the water utility. The PSC determines if the village has enough money in reserve to meet all its obligations for the next 20, 30 and 40 years. That’s what triggered the large recommended increase in 2014.

The village’s water utility has a fund balance — essentially a savings account for unexpected costs — of about $625,000. Projects in the next few years, including sewer inflow and infiltration work on several streets that will pull money from the sewer and general fund as well, total about $750,000, according to Boehnlein. That leaves the fund $125,000 short. It would take more than seven years to reach with just one 3% increase.

Industrial water rates are scheduled to rise by $500 per year and commercial rates by $40. Multifamily household rates will increase by $50.

The increase takes effect Sept. 20 and is estimated to bring in $16,500 in additional revenue per year.