Some officials believe raising the sewer rate is a last resort to be used only after vigorous pursuit of delinquent bills.
Holyoke Councilor Peter R. Tallman HOLYOKE – City Councilor Kevin A. Jourdain said he is prepared to propose more than $450,000 in cuts to the public works budget Monday because of a failure to hunt down more than half a million dollars in delinquent sewer bills.
“I am going to propose $450,000 in cuts if they don’t come in and give us an explanation,” Jourdain said Friday.
City councilors will discuss the proposed budget for the Department of Public Works at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
Public Works Superintendent William D. Fuqua said his department is doing its best to try to seize overdue sewer bills.
Monthly letters are mailed to those who owe bills and his department works with the office Treasurer Jon D. Lumbra to track down others, he said.
“We’ve been working as hard as we can to address that,” Fuqua said.
He declined to say what the effects would be of a $450,000 budget cut and said he will address that Monday.
Still on the table is a proposal from public works officials from the fall to increase the sewer rate to get additional revenue.
Under that proposal, the average household’s yearly sewer bill would increase to $430 from the current $365.
That was based on the current rate of $5.40 per 1,000 metered gallons used increasing to $6.40 per 1,000 metered gallons used.
Jourdain said increasing the sewer rate should be a last resort.
Public works first must do everything possible to seize the $500,000 to $600,000 in delinquent sewer bills, cut public works spending and perhaps revisit sewer-use agreements the city has with large users like Sonoco Products Co., Hampden Papers Inc. and Marox Corp.
The $8.55 million sewer use fund is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works. That fund is an enterprise fund, meaning that it is supposed to be self-sustaining through fees paid by customers. Most of that fund, $6.4 million, goes to United Water, the private firm that runs the wastewater treatment plant.
The problem has continued to be that the rate at which revenue is coming in from users has failed to keep pace with the rate at which the city is contractually bound to pay United Water, officials said.
Councilor at Large Peter R. Tallman said he wants to hear Fuqua’s views before saying whether he would support a budget cut.
“I think there’s still some work to do,” Tallman said.
Public works is actually a variety of accounts. It consists of administration, management of city property, highways and bridges, vehicle maintenance, trash collection and parking.
Those public works accounts total $4.5 million in the budget that Mayor Elaine A. Pluta has proposed to run the city in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
That proposal is actually less than the total for those accounts in the current budget, $5.9 million. A review of the budget shows the decrease apparently is because less money is included in the proposed budget for capital expenses.