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CPW wants feedback on budget, possible rate hike

Published Thursday, May 08, 2008 2:26 PM

By David Berman
Summerville Journal Scene ®

The Summerville Commissioners of Public Works is likely on the verge of its first rate increase since 1994.

But before the CPW approves the hike on water and sewer service rates, it will look to its customers for feedback at an informational meeting at 6 p.m. next Wednesday, May 14, at its wastewater treatment facility, located at 400 Orangeburg Road.

The CPW’s preliminary budget, presented April 22, calls for a $2 monthly increase of both sewer and water fees, bringing an average in-town bill from $29 a month to $33 a month, CPW director Charles Cuzzell said.

The average bill outside the town limits would climb from $41.80 to $45.80, he said.

While a rate increase appears to be inevitable, the amount of that increase has yet to be pinned down, says Commissioner George “Jordy” Tupper III.

That will be done at the CPW’s April 27 meeting.

“We haven’t even gotten together to determine the amount,” he said. “We know it’s overdue. It’s a bad time for an increase, but there’s no way to go on and keep the CPW like it is — a strong utility — without an increase.”

Both Cuzzell and Tupper attribute decreased revenue over the past few years to a downturn in residential growth.

“Rates would have probably gone up a few years ago it wasn’t for the growth rate,” Cuzzell said. Commissioners discussed an increase last year but held off, Tupper said.

In recent years, the construction of new homes bore the burden of the CPW’s expenses — a burden that now must be shared with existing customers, Cuzzell said.

The CPW is wholly supported by its customers, Cuzzell said. It doesn’t receive revenue from taxes or state or federal dollars.

Without an increase this year, the CPW would have to eat into its reserve funds, Tupper said. Those funds are for emergencies like hurricanes and the recent use of pumps to draw water from drought-affected Lake Moultrie.

Even with an increase, the Summerville CPW would still have the lowest water and sewer rates in the area, Cuzzell said.

According to a March 25 rate survey based on 6,000 gallons of water use, the average monthly bill in other municipalities ranges from $37 in Moncks Corner to $76 for out-of-town Goose Creek customers.

In crafting the budget, the commissioners will determine which capital improvement projects will move forward and which ones are tabled.

Certain projects are at the mercy of local road construction, like moving water and sewer lines so roads can be widened, Cuzzell said.

Tupper said he would like to see the CPW ride out the increase for a few years, rather than adding incremental increases each year.

Any rate increase would become effective June 1.

Contact David Berman at 873-9424 ext. 214 or dberman@journalscene.com

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