Copperas Cove city council holding workshop Thursday to discuss proposed utility rate increases

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press

Copperas Cove utility customers could see rate increases for some of the city’s utility services, starting Oct. 1.

That’s what has been included in the fiscal year 2020-2021 Water & Sewer and Solid Waste budgets as presented to the city council by Copperas Cove administration.

On Thursday, at 5 p.m., the council will be holding a workshop meeting to discuss the proposed rate increases.

The proposal includes increases to the water and sewer base rates along with the water and sewer volumetric rates, solid waste fee increases, and an increase to the monthly drainage fee.

The senior citizen discount of 20% remains intact for those over the age of 65, plus a 5,000-gallon cap for the discount.

The city has a graph which shows the impact to customer bills based on usage ranging from 4,000 gallons to as much as 30,000. Currently, a water bill for a residential customer that uses 4,000 gallons of water in a billing period would be $96.57, which includes water and sewer base rates, plus volumetric usage charges, solid waste collection fee and stormwater/drainage fee.

Under the proposed rates, that same bill would be $102.12.

The water and sewer base rates would be $14.70 each, up from the current rate of $14. The water and sewer volumetric rates per 1,000 gallons would be $4.99 per 1,000 for water and $6.04 per 1,000 gallons for sewer. The current rates are $4.75 and $5.75, respectively. The current rate for solid waste collection is $19, and would rise to $19.95. The current stormwater/drainage fee would increase to $7 from $6.

The city’s Water & Sewer fund is an “enterprise fund,” and is not funded by property taxes. Instead, it receives revenue from utility customers. The fund overall has a proposed beginning fund balance, what some have called a “rainy day” fund, of $3,274,580. City council already has an established fund balance policy, which requires that city funds have a 90-day fund balance on hand, better known as the “ideal” fund balance.

Presently, the Water & Sewer fund's ideal fund balance is $2,414,057, with the proposed water and sewer budget coming in with $901,320 over the ideal fund balance.

Other considerations in the overall Water & Sewer fund budget include a 1% cost of living adjustment plus market adjustment increases for staff, the reclassification of the Billing Technician to Utility Admin from the Finance Department, the remodel of the Utility Administration building for $250,000, and a software purchase of Tyler Technology for $173,793. A new position request if that of a Utility Administration Manager for $69,159 is also included in the budget. The city has also said that its own water rates for purchasing water from the Bell County Water Improvement Control District No.1 are also increasing.

The workshop meeting will begin at 5 p.m., and the public may participate in this meeting by calling the toll-free number, (888) 475-4499 and use meeting ID 986 602 9818.

Residents may offer comments telephonically as provided by the agenda and as permitted by the presiding officer during the meeting.

Written questions or comments may be submitted up to two hours before the meeting via email to Lisa Wilson, City Secretary at lwilson@copperascovetx.gov. 

A recording of the telephonic meeting will be made and will be available to the public in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act upon written request.