During the regular meeting of the City of Demorest Council, members voted to increase the tap fees in the City of Demorest. The previous rate of $800 was the lowest in the region and was not adequate to cover the cost of installing the tap, according to Council members and staff.
The Council was set to raise sewer rates to comply with a USDA requirement, however the Council has discovered that the rates for the UDSA study were based on flawed data. Some 250 water and sewer accounts were improperly coded by the previous administration. The accounts are commercial accounts that have been improperly coded as residential. If the accounts had been coded properly, the City would have received an additional $50,000 annually. “I am fed up with the incompetence of the previous adminstration, the city missed out on what it was due and we paid $17,ooo for a study based on flawed data,” remarked Mayor Rick Austin. The study he referred to was one done by Ben Turnipseed, engineer. Turnipseed completed a study for the council on the water and sewer fees, but with the incorrectly coded 250 accounts, the study data was flawed. The Council agreed to postpone the vote on raising the rates and directed City Manager, Steve Lindsey to contact Turnipseed to give the correct data and get a revised study.
Additionally, Councilman Jerry Harkness brought up another issue concerning the proposed water and sewer fees. Some customers right outside the city limits would see a marked increase in their water and sewer rates. Councilman Harkness explained, “some small buisness right out the city limits that doesn’t use much water or sewer would see their base rate rise to a minimum of $200 just because they are in a shopping center.” Joely Mixon, interim City Treasurer reminded the Council that the current budget was based upon the fees being raised in February and that the issue needed to be addressed.
The new tap rates take effect July 1, 2015 and are as follows:
Water Sewer
Meter size Inside Outside Inside Outside
3/4 inch $1300 $1600 $1300 $1600
1 inch $2500 $2700 $3000 $3200
1 1/ 2inch $3500 $3700 $4000 $4200
2 inch $5000 $5200 $5500 $5700
3 inch $10,000 $10,200 $10,500 $10,700
4 inch $20,000 $20,200 $20,500 $20,700
6 inch $40,000 $40,200 $20,500 $10,700
8 inch $65,000 $65,200 $65,500 $65,700
