Residents of Watonga are understandably concerned about the upcoming rate increase across all utilities. That increase will go into effect with the May billing cycle.
For its part, the city is holding consumer education sessions where the resident can go into the city offices, sit with an employee and go over their utility bill line by line, recalculating the current bill at the new rate for a sneak peek at what the future holds.
Taking a typical month’s bill for a two bedroom, one bath with a basement, enclosed one car garage and two residents, approximately 1,200 square feet, this is how the numbers shook out.
The April bill was $173.34. Electric for April was $93.43 with a $25.17 cost adjustment factor.
Plugging in the new figures the electric goes up to $96.77, or slightly more than $3. The cost adjustment remains the same.
The water increased from $16.66 to $21.90, about $5, but the sewer more than doubled, from $12.68 to $27. The sewer rates are based on the water consumption, even though not all the water that flows into the house is disposed of through the sewer. For instance, some water is consumed by humans or pets, and some is used in cooking or watering lawns and gardens.
The increase in the sewer rate is in part because the former rates did not cover the cost of the department. The new rate will bring the sewer division up to self sufficiency and help pay for the new wastewater treatment plant as well.
Garbage rates will go from $17.25 for one poly cart to $28 for the same single cart picked up once a week.
The vendor, Veterans Waste, has a cost-of-living increase written into its contracts. It negotiated a five-year agreement, renewable in single year contracts, with the city one year ago in February.
The increase is beyond what the vendor requires and will be used to help meet the costs of the waste convenience center – the dump – south of town. Currently, the costs of that facility are being met by the city. The change will move it to meeting its costs itself. In an ordinary month, the city has been shelling out nearly $8,000 to have the roll offs at the dump taken to a landfill and emptied. The alternative was to raise the cost of dumping at the facility substantially, whereas now residents with a power bill can dump up to a ton of refuse free of charge.
The tax portion of the bill went down, from $8.15 to $6.65. Taxes are applied to the electricity costs only and are calculated at a 6.875 rate rather than the citywide sales tax rate of 11.375.
The entire increase in this illustration was $32.15, not unsubstantial.
However, there are steps residents can take to reduce their utility usage and most of them are free or low cost. Residents can enquire at city hall or check with Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority for a list of rebates on energy efficient appliances and other cost reducing programs.