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LISBON -- Village water customers are about to get hit with a rate hike officials say is needed to remain solvent.
The village Board of Public Utilities agreed this week to raise rates from $5.69 per 100 cubic feet to 9.87, with the rate returning to $5.69 after 200 cubic feet.
The $5.69 is the rate charged the 1,280 water customers who live in town. The 220 customers outside of town pay $7.28 per 100 cubic fee of water, and BPA Chairman Bill Hoover said their rates will also be affected, but he did not know by how much just yet.
The average four-person household uses 668 cubic feet of water per month, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Using that formula, village customers would see their costs increase from $76.01 per two-month billing cycle to $84.37 -- an increase of a $8.36, or $50.16 per year. The increase is scheduled to take effect in April and be reflected in the May bill.
Hoover said for the past two years the water department has been spending $45,000 more than it has been taking in, but they managed to avoid ending the year with a deficit by using money from the year-end cash balance. The balance is shrinking, however, and he said they need extra money just to keep pace with current expenses, with the increase expected to generate an additional $60,000 or so annually.
Rates have been raised by 3 percent each year since 2016, including 2020, but that was not enough to keep pace with increasing operating costs. The much larger increase was recommended by the Ohio Rural Community Assistance Program, which performed a rate analysis to determine if the current water and sewer rates were adequate to address the village's current and future needs.
"I'm calling this an emergency because we were losing money, a lot of money, and this will just stop the bleeding," Hoover said, adding RCAP recommended a much higher increase, but the BPA will revisit the issue of future increases early next year.
Officials have said before that raising rates also has the added benefit of increasing the village's ability to qualify for low-interest state and federal loans to help fund projects. The U.S. Department of Agriculture in particular looks more favorably on applicants with a rate structure capable of repaying any loans while also adequately funding daily operations.
The BPA is hosting public meetings at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. March 19 to explain the rate increases and answer questions.
tgiambroni@mojonews.com