|
Water rate hike approved
Published June 25, 2009
LAKE JACKSON — A new mix of members and two changed votes resulted in Brazosport Water Authority reversing course and approving a rate increase.
The authority’s board approved a 3.6 percent rate increase at its meeting Tuesday, a month after three of the four members who voted sided with killing the proposed increase. But it was one yes vote shy of the number needed for the decision to stick.
Board member Larry Shaefer, who represents Angleton, put the measure back on the table Tuesday night. He made a motion Tuesday that the board not approve an increase and instruct General Manager Landon Roberts to adjust the budget to reflect the unchanged rate. Only Shaefer and Freeport representative Bobby Jo Casale voted in favor of that motion.
Juan Longoria III of Lake Jackson then made a motion for a 3.6 percent increase to be adopted, and it passed 4-2, with Richwood representative Steve Boykin, Clute representative Joe Damian, Longoria and Oyster Creek representative Jesse Hernandez voting in favor.
Brazoria representative Kirby Jordan was absent.
The current base rate for Brazosport Water Authority’s seven member cities of $1.58 per 1,000 gallons will increase to $1.64 beginning with the new fiscal year in October. The increase is less than the 5 percent discussed with city officials early this year.
It is likely the increase will be passed on to residents, said officials with member cities contacted by The Facts.
However, Shaefer said he has not given up fighting there being any increase at all.
“The budget is amenable at anytime, at any meeting,” Shaefer said. “We have not seen the last of this matter.”
A change in attendance and a pair of changed votes from the board’s May meeting brought about the new rate’s passage.
Boykin was absent from the May meeting and voted for the increase Tuesday. Kirby, who voted last month to not raise rates, wasn’t at this month’s meeting, and both Damian and Hernandez switched from abstaining to voting for the rate increase.
Hernandez said he abstained at the last meeting because he was surprised the motion hit the table so quickly and knew if he abstained the vote would be neutralized and he would have a chance to talk to his City Council, he said.
He said he voted for the increase Tuesday because he believes the water authority, which hasn’t increased its rate in a decade, needs the money.
“I understand the position of BWA,” Hernandez said. “Ten years is an awful long time to run streamline.”
Damian said he could live with the smaller 3.6 percent increase.
“We’ve been vigilant over the years,” Boykin said. “We know it’s bad timing, but we have to keep this place running.”
The increase amounts to about $7 to $8 more a year for residents, Roberts said. That is too much for some officials.
“I don’t think any of us are ever happy with a rate increase,” Angleton Mayor J. Patrick Henry said.
Shaefer’s vote shows how Angleton City Council feels about the increase, Henry said, but others believe the rate increase is necessary.
“We’ve been anticipating it for many years,” said Lake Jackson City Manager Bill Yenne, whose city plans to pass on the increase to residents.
The rate increase was discussed in March at a water authority workshop with representatives of member cities. At the meeting, some mayors spoke out against the rate increase.
The Brazosport Water Authority is a nonprofit surface water treatment plant and serves as wholesale potable water provider to seven member cities, two Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison units and Dow Chemical Co. member cities include Angleton, Brazoria, Clute, Freeport, Lake Jackson, Oyster Creek and Richwood.
The Brazosport Water Authority sells water to the cities and its other customers. The cities then sell the water to their residents.
Katlynn Lanham covers Brazosport Water Authority for The Facts. Contact her at (979) 237-0150.
Share |
Save |
Mail |
Print
|
|
|
 |
|
FREE BAY BOAT WITH WATERFRONT PURCHASE Get
...
Click for all
Top Ads listing
|
