By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
and Patricia Bogumil
editor
Specific details are scarce, but Town of Waterford Sanitary District (WSD) officials are hinting that a revised rate structure could be coming later this year.
On June 2, WSD Board Chairman Dan Dickinson said he plans to propose that a general rate decrease be discussed when commissioners next meet on Wednesday, June 11, at the Town Hall.
At that meeting, Dickinson expects to discuss steps needed for a general rate reduction to take place by the Oct. 1 third quarter billing.
Dickinson declined to offer specific details in advance, but said he plans to offer a motion June 11 that will authorize him to work toward achieving the general rate reduction for the third-quarter billing.
Also on the agenda June 11 will be likely action to finalize a rate study that has been under way for several months.
Rate study discussions
Jim Filicetti of KJ Tax and Accounting provided an update on the rate study and other issues when commissioners last met on May 14. Filicetti last year was retained by WSD to provide back-office support.
Dickinson was not in attendance at that meeting. He has been at the helm of the rate structure review, which was first announced in February.
Filicetti alluded May 14 to unspecified “interesting findings” about the rate study, though he did not divulge specific details.
“You’ll be exposed to it more in the coming months,” Filicetti said, as he discussed the issue with commissioners Ricky McNeiley and Jeff Santaga.
Santaga said equity is at the heart of the issues being examined.
“There’s been a lot of work put into making this fair. Some people won’t like it, but it will be fair,” Santaga said.
Filicetti said he believes WSD as an organization stands to be about 10 percent more efficient with its future billing procedures as a result of the rate review.
Dickinson, Santaga and Filicetti have not been doing the rate review work on their own. WSD has hired the expertise of civil engineering firm Ruekert-Mielke to review the district’s existing rate structure and provide direction for the future.
Ruekert-Mielke’s services are not to exceed $2,500. Additional money, however, could be spent in legal expenses associated with redrafting existing ordinances.
Part of WSD’s challenge in achieving fairness concerns the infrastructure in place. A few residents have meters to gauge their usage during each billing period. The vast majority of residents do not have this kind of system in place.
At the onset of the rate study earlier this year, WSD officials were unaware of exactly how many customers have actual meters to calculate usage; Dickinson now estimates the number to be a handful – around a half dozen.
Another issue of concern mentioned in the course of the rate study: Some of the district’s customers have little to no usage in a specific period, and the existing rate structure also does not fully take this scenario into account.
An additional complication relates to the Western Racine County Sewerage District (WRCSD), which sends its own bill to WSD, which must then be budgeted for.
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