Board of Directors Adopts 2006 Water and Sewer Rates
Friday, December 30, 2005
After holding a public hearing yesterday, the Western Virginia Water Authority Board of Directors voted to adopt new rates and fees for 2006.. The new rates will be effective January 1, 2006.
At its September 2005 meeting, the Board of Directors approved the advertisement of proposed water and sewer rates for 2006. In 2004, board members endorsed a six-year water/sewer rate schedule. The schedule equalizes water and sewer rates for all Water Authority customers through incremental changes to these charges by 2010.
Water and sewer rates are calculated from a combination of base and volume charges. The 2006 rates reflect incremental changes to these charges.
In 2006, for customers in the City of Roanoke (with 5/8-inch water meters), the base water rate will remain at $3.50 a month, and the volume rate will increase from $2.30 to $2.42 (or 12 cents) per 1,000 gallons for usage up to 10,000 gallons. An average monthly water bill, based on 5,000 gallons of usage, will increase from $15.00 to $15.60 (or 60 cents) a month.
In 2006, for the majority of customers in Roanoke County (with 5/8-inch water meters and using less than 10,000 gallons of water per month), the base water rate will decrease from $6.25 to $5.70 (or 55 cents) a month, and the volume rate will remain at $2.90 per 1,000 gallons. An average monthly water bill, based on 5,000 gallons of usage, will decrease from $20.75 to $20.20 (or 55 cents).
In comparison, the average monthly residential water bill in the Commonwealth in 2005 was $20.93, based on an annual survey performed on behalf of the Virginia Municipal League and the Virginia Association of Counties.
In 2006, sewer rates will increase for all sewer customers. For the majority of customers in the city (with 5/8-inch water meters), the base sewer rate will increase from $1.65 to $3.00 (or $1.35) per month; the volume rate for all customers in the city will increase from $2.59 to $2.70 (or 11 cents) per 1,000 gallons. An average monthly sewer bill, based on 5,000 gallons of discharge, will increase from $14.60 to $16.50 (or $1.90).
In 2006, for the majority of customers in the county (with 5/8-inch water meters), sewer base rates will remain the same at $9.00 a month. Sewer volume rates will increase for all customers from $1.80 to $2.10 (or 30 cents) per 1,000 gallons. An average monthly sewer bill, based on 5,000 gallons of discharge, will increase from $18.00 to $19.50 (or $1.50).
In comparison, the average monthly residential sewer bill in the Commonwealth in 2005 was $24.95 based on an annual survey performed on behalf of the Virginia Municipal League and the Virginia Association of Counties.
Sewer rate increases are necessary to pay for renovations currently underway at the Water Pollution Control Plant and to renovate the 960-mile sewer collection infrastructure in the Water Authority service area. Renovations will allow the plant to treat a much higher volume of wastewater and will reduce the potential for sewage overflows at the plant and throughout the wastewater collection system.
The Western Virginia Water Authority—and the City of Roanoke and Roanoke County prior to the formation of the Authority on July 1, 2004—has been in ongoing negotiations with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for wastewater collection system improvements. In 2005, the Water Authority established a formal remediation program with DEQ for its wastewater system, called a Special Order by Consent (SOC). The SOC mandates a step-by-step plan that the Water Authority will follow to identify and reduce sources of inflow and infiltration of stormwater and groundwater throughout the sewer collection system. This work will be done in addition to the renovations underway at the Roanoke Regional Water Pollution Control Plant.