Reduction in residential water rates could be coming down the pipe

Water rates could be decreasing for residents.

Deputy Mayor Sheldon Forgette says the proposal is to bring the cubic meter rate down to $1.03 while the fixed rates go to $29.50.

He says that will bring in savings for residents if council approves this at their next meeting on Monday.

However, Forgette says he doesn’t expect this to be set in stone for years to come.

He says “it’s definitely going to be a couple of years in the making to get it resolved and have equality across the system.”

Meantime, Chair of Community Services Mark King says because the rates are the same for all sectors, the Industrial-Commerical-Institutional side won’t see as big a savings as the residents, and he points out several facilities are seeing major increases.

He says that includes the YMCA at 53-percent, Memorial Gardens at 81-percent, and the city hall at 44-percent.

He asked Chief Financial Officer Margaret Karpenko why those increases were going to be so extreme.

Karpenko says “in some instances the facility was designated at a flat fee and did not have a meter, so with the implementation of meters it shifts.”  

She adds because the facilities have the larger meters sizes they are being charged for that rate just like any other industrial property.