By Toni Gibbons At the end of the public hearing for proposed water rate changes at the Taylor Town Council meeting on Nov. 1, in which no one from the public spoke, a resolution for the proposed water and sewer rate changes was unanimously passed by the four members present, which included Mayor David Smith, Vice Mayor Shawn Palmer, Councilmen Jason Brubaker and Fay Hatch. Councilmen Carl Cosper, Lynn DeWitt and Kyle Peck, were absent. Town Manager Gus Lundberg noted that the work session last week went over the ins and outs of the proposed increases. “The last rate increase on sewer was in 2008,” said Lundberg. “In 2012 a fairly minimal increase was given to water.” With the cost of the water adjudication continuing to increase and the need for improvements within the systems, the accepted resolution increased the base charge of water and sewer, from $15 per unit of service to $23.18, for up to 4,000 gallons consumed. The volume rate was increased from $1 to $1.92 per 1,000 gallons. New tap line fees, which include meter installation, for a one-and-a-half inch line was increased to $2,200. The standard meter lines were not increased. On the plus side, the monthly charge of $1 for the water adjudication was removed. And the sewer connection fee, currently known as the sewer impact fee, was reduced from $3,000 to $2,450 and renamed as a “sewer connection fee.” The new rates will go into effect on Dec. 1. A Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment was also added to the resolution, which states: “Commencing on Jan. 1, 2020, and on each Jan. 1 thereafter, the then current base fee and volume rate shall be automatically adjusted by the average annual percent change in the CPI for all urban consumers in the West Region.”
