Controversial Columbus water rate hike proposal goes up for vote. Here’s the result.
The Columbus Water Works board voted Monday to delay by three months its rate hike, yielding to the majority of Columbus Councilors who spoke against the proposal and requested postponement, due to the financial struggles some residents have amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of monthly water bills increasing by 3.75% in January, as originally proposed, the new rate start in April. The vote was unanimous among the water board’s five members:
- Chairman Reynolds Bickerstaff, chief experience officer of Bickerstaff Parham Real Estate
- Vice Chairman Sanders Griffith, retired general counsel of TSYS
- Rodney Close, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattahoochee Valley
- Skip Henderson, mayor of Columbus
- Becky Rumer, retired chief administrative officer of Synovus.
The mayor is a water board member by virtue of his office. Columbus Council appoints the other members to four-year terms.
During the Oct. 27 Columbus Council meeting, CWW President Steve Davis and staff members presented a plan to raise the rate beginning in January.
Councilors Walker Garrett of District 8, Charmaine Crabb of District 5, Jerry “Pops” Barnes of District 1, Bruce Huff of District 3, Glenn Davis of District 2, citywide representative Judy Thomas and Evelyn “Mimi” Woodson of District 7 spoke about the proposed rate increase — and none expressed support. Citywide representative John House also spoke against the proposal in an interview with the L-E, suggesting a six-month delay.
“Seven or eight” of the council’s 10 members contacted Mayor Skip Henderson about the proposal, he told the Ledger-Enquirer. They objected to the timing of it and asked for the rate increase to be delayed.
Here’s how the proposed rate increase will affect the average residential customer, according to CWW:
▪ $1.29 for 3,000 gallons.
▪ $1.82 for 4,500 gallons.
▪ $2.21 for 6,000 gallons.
The typical residential customer uses 3,000 gallons per month, currently amounting to $34.22, CWW Senior Vice President Vic Burchfield said.
To offset the rate increase, CWW will offer a larger discount for low-income customers, raising the monthly credit of $7.50 by $1.
The board conducted Monday’s meeting via videoconference.
Before the vote, Henderson praised the CWW staff for its presentation “and for the great way you guys have positioned CWW going forward to be able to continue to meet its obligations, particularly in regards to the infrastructure and making sure we don’t get hit full in the face with a major, major expenditure.”
Henderson also thanked CWW for listening to the councilors.
“Their only concern had nothing to do with the rate increase,” he said. “It had nothing to do with CWW. It had everything to do with the fact that there are, in their districts, a lot of people still struggling.
“And despite the fact that the Water Works does an admirable job in working with anybody that’s struggling with paying, they just felt like there was a way to put off the timing of the increase and maybe postpone it a little bit to let them kind of get some of the cobwebs shook out of their heads and try to get back on their feet a little bit. It would be a prudent course of action.”
CWW president Davis told the board, in response to the feedback, the staff removed the Jan. 1 date from its proposed rate hike and deferred to the board to decide the date. Bickerstaff suggested April 1 as the effective date. Griffith made the motion, seconded by Close, and it passed unanimously.
Henderson thanked the board “for their sensitivity to the needs of the folks around the city, and thank you for taking this measure to give them a few more months of recovery before the bills go up a little bit.”
Bickerstaff replied, “We want to be respectful of everyone’s opinions, especially our customers and your citizens, and work together on this. Thank you for voicing your concerns.”
House wished the delay would have been six months but commended the board for granting at least some postponement.
“The decision is a tough one because the Water Works must have sufficient revenues to maintain and in some cases grow its infrastructure,” House told the L-E in an email. “However, many people are having financial challenges due to the pandemic. A delay in an increase in a virtually mandatory fee — we all use water — will help those people who are having challenges right now.
“A 6-month delay would have helped people more because hopefully by the summer we will see a sufficient distribution of a vaccine to the population to support a business revival. However, I do not know the impact of a 6-month delay on the Water Works’ ability to function. The 3-month delay will probably not get us to a point where the economy has recovered, but I am thankful for any delay that helps the citizens.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 2:36 PM.
