MADISON - The Village of Albany has filed its first water rate case in 17 years, seeking a sizable 32 percent hike in revenue, or $11.90 quarterly more, for typical residential customers of the Municipal Water and Sewer Utility.
Village Administrator Laurie Keepers expects it will come as "a shock" to customers who have experienced only several 3 percent inflationary increases since December 1997, the date of the last significant increase.
"Most of the people are good about such things, but we've been without a rate for so long that it will be a shock. I just hope they will be patient and understand that things need to be done," Keepers said.
If approved as submitted Friday to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, residential customers currently paying $37.06 quarterly in volume charges for 12,716 gallons of water would pay $48.96 for the same amount of water under the new rates.
Residential customers also pay $27.84 meter charge quarterly, which is subject to adjustment by the PSC.
The current Public Fire Protection charge of $80,701 collected on property tax bills could also be increased by the PSC.
Keepers said the village board has been considering changing the public fire protection charge to water bills. That would allow the utility to collect it from schools, churches and other entities not paying property taxes.
The Public Fire Protection charge is collected to reimburse the utility for hydrant maintenance and other water costs associated with firefighting.
The utility needs the additional revenue to finance water main replacement, a new meter system, improvements to tower and pump alarm systems and "touch up" repainting of the water tower and standpipe, said Lonnie Gill, public works director.
This summer, the village wants to replace 2- and 4-inch water mains with 6-inch mains in N. Mechanic, Vine and parts of Main streets in advance of the state resurfacing Wisconsin 59, said Gill.
"Those are 100-year-old mains ... and we'll have fewer repair problems once they're replaced," he said.
The utility also must replace its 444 water meters to comply with EPA standards requiring no-lead or low-lead meters, Gill said.
The new system, estimated to cost $101,700, will be automated, which will not only save meter reading costs but also the many hours it takes to process handwritten meter data for the water bills.
"I won't miss that one bit," Keepers said.
To finance its capital projects, the utility borrowed $180,000 this year and will borrow $263,243 next year, according to the rate application.
Without the new rates, the utility would have a net income of $15,595 next year based on revenues of $189,286 and total expenses of $173,691.
The new rates would pump up revenue by $59,432 and earn a 5.75 percent rate of return on the net value of its infrastructure investment, according to the application.
PSC will review the application and recommend how much revenue the utility needs to maintain financial viability, which the utility can adopt or contest at a public hearing to be held simultaneously in Albany and Madison.
The PSC is expected to take about four months to issue a decision in the case.
Village Administrator Laurie Keepers expects it will come as "a shock" to customers who have experienced only several 3 percent inflationary increases since December 1997, the date of the last significant increase.
"Most of the people are good about such things, but we've been without a rate for so long that it will be a shock. I just hope they will be patient and understand that things need to be done," Keepers said.
If approved as submitted Friday to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, residential customers currently paying $37.06 quarterly in volume charges for 12,716 gallons of water would pay $48.96 for the same amount of water under the new rates.
Residential customers also pay $27.84 meter charge quarterly, which is subject to adjustment by the PSC.
The current Public Fire Protection charge of $80,701 collected on property tax bills could also be increased by the PSC.
Keepers said the village board has been considering changing the public fire protection charge to water bills. That would allow the utility to collect it from schools, churches and other entities not paying property taxes.
The Public Fire Protection charge is collected to reimburse the utility for hydrant maintenance and other water costs associated with firefighting.
The utility needs the additional revenue to finance water main replacement, a new meter system, improvements to tower and pump alarm systems and "touch up" repainting of the water tower and standpipe, said Lonnie Gill, public works director.
This summer, the village wants to replace 2- and 4-inch water mains with 6-inch mains in N. Mechanic, Vine and parts of Main streets in advance of the state resurfacing Wisconsin 59, said Gill.
"Those are 100-year-old mains ... and we'll have fewer repair problems once they're replaced," he said.
The utility also must replace its 444 water meters to comply with EPA standards requiring no-lead or low-lead meters, Gill said.
The new system, estimated to cost $101,700, will be automated, which will not only save meter reading costs but also the many hours it takes to process handwritten meter data for the water bills.
"I won't miss that one bit," Keepers said.
To finance its capital projects, the utility borrowed $180,000 this year and will borrow $263,243 next year, according to the rate application.
Without the new rates, the utility would have a net income of $15,595 next year based on revenues of $189,286 and total expenses of $173,691.
The new rates would pump up revenue by $59,432 and earn a 5.75 percent rate of return on the net value of its infrastructure investment, according to the application.
PSC will review the application and recommend how much revenue the utility needs to maintain financial viability, which the utility can adopt or contest at a public hearing to be held simultaneously in Albany and Madison.
The PSC is expected to take about four months to issue a decision in the case.