Calculated increase

By MICHELLE MCLEAN
Hillsboro city water customers will start paying more for their water this summer. Commissioners agreed to an “interim” rate hike at Monday’s regular meeting.
After months of debate by commissioners and numerous calculations by city hall, the decision to increase rates addresses two primary concerns — a water department that regularly loses money and anticipated expenses for a new water treatment plant and the city’s part in a regional water system.
According to estimates by water commissioner Charlie Stock and commission president Kevin Burg, an “average” monthly water bill of $18 will increase to about $30.
At a public meeting about a year ago, city leaders had forecast an average monthly water bill of $44, once the new water plant was built.
The city has about 840 water customers. The goal, Burg said, was to increase water department revenues to about $300,000 a year, an increase from about $135,000. 
Hillsboro’s current fee structure  includes a $6.60 base rate,  a $5 surcharge (for water improvement projects) and a usage rate of 93 cents per hundred cubic feet of water.
Under the plan proposed Monday, the base rate would be $15 with the $5 surcharge discontinued. The usage rate would increase to $2.50 per hundred cubic feet of water.
“We’ve got to start somewhere,” commissioner Kyle Stern said.
Some customers living in apartments and the trailer court are considered “unmetered” and are charged a “flat rate” often paid by the rental property’s owner. Commissioners revised that rate from $13.20 per unit per month to $30.  A concerted effort would be made to meter every user unit possible, commissioners agreed.
City hall will notify all “flat rate” customers of the rate hike by letter since most of them live out of town. The commission will allow additional time for comments because of that notification.
If the rate hike is approved — possibly at the May 18 meeting— customers will see the increase on their utility bill due July 10.
City supt. Jim Anderson said, “Run with it for a year and see what you generate.”
If the rate hike causes customers to conserve water, revenues could be less than expected — and needed, commissioners worried.
Commissioners again pointed to a regional rate study that pegs Hillsboro water costs at one of the cheapest available. Even with the planned increase, Stock said, Hillsboro’s rate is still in the bottom third.
“It’s still cheap,” Burg added.
“It is,” agreed Anderson.
Commissioners expressed concern about not having an exact number for the amount of water used by city customers. The city’s plant generates about  seven million cubic feet a year but only 6.675 million cubic feet is metered as delivered — and billed — by the city. The matter would continue to be investigated.
In other business, the commission:
■   Heard from resident Marlene Peterson, who urged commissioners to do a better job maintaining 4th St. SW south of 2nd Ave. The city street serves the Traill County Highway Department, Park Apartments and the softball complex.
“I don’t care that it’s a gravel road as long as it’s maintained,” she said. The low-lying road is prone to ruts because of drainage problems in the area.
Commissioner Lorraine Tibert explained that when the apartment complex was built about a decade ago years ago, the owners opted not to pay special assessments to pave the road.
City supt. Jim Anderson added that the city has an off-the-record agreement with Traill County for the county to maintain the road.
Peterson said the arrangement makes sense “since the county’s (heavy equipment) buggers it up.”
Anderson and Peterson noted that the county crew had bladed and graveled the road earlier Monday and improved its condition immensely.
Two years ago, the city had explored a drainage fix for the block bordering the street to the west. The price tag was more than $360,000, noted commission president Kevin Burg.
“We’ll do what we can do,” Burg told Peterson.
Anderson added, “We’ll keep a better eye on it.”
■   Approved a refund of $1,400 to Dale’s Food Pride from the city’s water department. The grocery store had been erroneously billed an extra $20 a month since 2003. City hall had charged owner Dale Bakken five times the normal $5 surcharge as a metered account. The mistake was discovered when the city researched a new water rate structure. The money would be refunded in one check later this month. Bakken offered to accept the refund in smaller increments or as a pre-pay on his monthly bill. City auditor Lesley Connelly said the refund check was the simplest way to clear up the overbilling.
■   Agreed to fund the summer library program for the ninth year. City sales tax revenues will be used to pay wages for a summer librarian at the Hillsboro High School Public Library. Library assistant Lorna Nysveen requested $3,030.15 for salary. The commission had already earmarked $3,000 in the 2009 budget for the library program. Nysveen reported that  last summer about 300 people utilized the library for books, computer access, research or “a quiet place.”
The library is open 22 hours per week for 10 weeks.