Water rate plan on table

WASILLA -- Wasilla residents will get something extra in their next sewer and water bill -- a notice of a proposed rate increase.

The Wasilla City Council has a new plan on how to more evenly distribute a rate increase for its water and sewer system, but at its meeting Monday council members said they wanted to make sure all users were notified so they could attend a public hearing before the council votes at its June 9 meeting.

"I think you would have a packed audience if you would have announced this on bills," Wasilla property owner Cindy Bettine told the council. She was among three people who testified Monday night on the rate increase, saying it was unfair and that the city should have notified everyone in advance.

The council seemed to agree.

"I think the impact really justifies making sure we did everything we could to notify them and let them have their say," Councilwoman Diana Straub said.

At the same time, the council directed administration to come up with a plan that increases everyone's bill by the same percent.

The last proposal would have hit small users the hardest, with a more than 60-percent increase to water bills from $15.75 to $25.75 per month. Medium users would have seen about a 50-percent increase, and the largest water consumers would have paid around 30 percent more.

City officials explained that the discrepancy was due to a basic $5 per month flat rate paid by all users. For those with a minimum $25 bill, that $5 is a significant amount. When the bill is more than $1,000, it is just a small portion.

Beyond that $5 flat rate, the rate increase for all users was the same. The council, therefore, suggested dropping the flat rate and charging everyone the same basic fee per 1,000 gallons they use. The result -- all water users would see the same percentage increase in their bill.

Administration said it would come back to the council with the numbers for this plan, and a similar one for the sewer rates.

However it is broken down, Wasilla property owners should expect their water and sewer bills to go up. While those who have testified at recent public hearings say the increase is being used to expand the system, and the cost should instead be picked up by new subscribers, the city sees it differently.

"The main question to be asked … is, when you turn on your water, would you like to have water come out of your faucet?" said Wasilla Mayor Dianne Keller. The city is currently relying on just one well that, if it went dry, would leave residents and business owners without any water. Keller said the Bumpus well and reservoir, which the rate increase is designed to help fund, is a necessary back-up to the existing system.

At the same time, the administration points out that new users already pay an inflation-proofed assessment that equates to the fee existing users paid when they first hooked up to the system.

The majority of council members emphasized that while they want to see the rate increase fairly distributed among all users, they won't change the bottom line and have the city pick up more of the costs.

But Kim Robinson, who spoke against the rate increase, said she was pleased the city will notify everyone and allow for more public testimony. She said she hopes more time will allow residents and the city to consider more options. Among those tossed around at the meeting -- lowering the minimum monthly gallon amount to encourage conservation and decrease the financial burden on small households, installing a peak-hour rate or using sales taxes to cover the cost of the expansion.