Using less, costing more

Water bills to rise, even as consumption falls

The cost of water is rising in Prince Edward County—despite the fact that we are using less of it.

Ironically it is our decrease in consumption that is, in part; helping to drive the increase in our water and wastewater bills. This is because our waterworks bill isn’t for water; we pull that free from Lake Ontario, Picton Bay, Roblin Lake and a well at Peat’s Point. Rather, our bill covers the cost of retrieving it, treating it and delivering the water to your home (or, for wastewater the reverse sequence). So when residents use less, the municipality earns less revenue from the portion it charges for usage. So users end up paying more for the base level service and a higher rate for consumption.

That is why so many folks are disappointed each spring when they return home from a lengthy stay in the sunny south only to find big water bills waiting for them—even when they haven’t used a drop of County water in months.

Water consumption per connection averaged 212 cubic metres in 2011. Next year waterworks officials figure just 208 cubic metres per connection will be drawn. That means a decrease of more than $28,000 in revenue. That money, and a whole lot more, must be found to balance the County’s waterworks budget.

The municipality is proposing across-theboard increases to make up the shortfall and fund capital projects recently completed, projects under way and those that are just a broken pipe or pump away.

User fees and service charges for its water service are set to rise 2.1 per cent in 2013. The County is looking to raise $3.0 million in water revenues for an average of $722 per connection. It will spend $2.8 to operate the system and $0.6 million for capital repairs and projects.

Meanwhile the County is looking for a big hike in wastewater fees—seeking to increase wastewater rates by nearly 16 per cent. It expects it will cost 17 per cent more to operate the two wastewater system systems (Wellington and Picton) in 2013. Municipal officials are looking to spend $0.9 million on capital projects— an increase of 12 per cent over last year.

Waterworks chief Robert McAuley says the hike in wastewater treatment costs is largely due to the operation of the new sewage treatment plant in Picton.

“The new plant is more expensive to operate than previously estimated,” reported McAuley. “We now have one full year of operating data to work with.”

Electricity charges are a big part of the surprise. Electricity bills are up between 25 and 50 per cent, according to McAuley.

It seems it is rather more expensive to pump Picton’s waste up to the sewage plant on Champlain’s Lookout on the escarpment overlooking Picton than was anticipated when they chose this elevated site.

McAuley noted, too, that some of the apparent increases are the result of reallocating costs into more appropriate categories. For example, routine preventative maintenance costs are now accounted for as an operating expense—where previously these costs would have been considered capital expenditures.

In any event the cost of your connection to municipal water and sewer is set to rise sharply in 2013—whether or not you turn on the tap or flush you toilet.