Water rates increase by 5 percent

Water rates in Newton will increase by 5 percent effective Aug. 1, Newton WaterWorks Board of Trustees decided at its meeting Friday.

Despite online vitriol of Newton WaterWorks’ proposed rate adjustment, which had been announced about one week prior to the public meeting, no written objections nor in-person oppositions were received at the meeting.

The board voted 2-0 in favor of the water rate increase. Maureen Lockwood, chairperson of the Newton WaterWorks Board of Trustees, was unable to attend the meeting. Staff confirmed that Newton WaterWorks operates exclusively from the Newton City Council, and thus it does not need to approve or oversee the water rate adjustments. However, board members are often appointed by the city council.

Newton WaterWorks provides drinking water to Newton, Lambs Grove, Country Club Acres and Bittersweet Acres, as well as the Iowa Rural Utilities Association. Staff have calculated how the 5-percent rate increase will effect different households and properties:

• The minimum bill of 0 to 200 cubic feet, or 1,500 gallons, will change from $10.90 to $11.45, a 55-cent per month increase.

• A family of four using 800 cubic feet a month, or 5,984 gallons, will see an increase from $27.28 to $28.67, a $1.37 per month increase.

• Commercial account bills of 10,000 cubic feet per month, or 74,800 gallons of water, will change from $283.60 to $298.30, a $14.79 per month increase.

Bret Doerring, chair pro-tem of the Newton WaterWorks Board of Trustees, said there is a misnomer about the water rate adjustment stemming from the confusion of the water bill. Doerring emphasized the rate adjustment only affects one part of the overall bill.

“There are three line items on there: the water, the sewer and the recycling and garbage,” Doerring said. “So when they look at that and say, ‘My water bill is $43’ — no, it’s not. In my water bill, $14 of the $43 is water. That is a very common misnomer.”

In a July 11 press release, Newton WaterWorks Manager L.D. Palmer attributed the adjustment to fluctuations in rainfall and the “dramatically” increased operating expenses and water treatment expenses since the last water rate change in 2016.

Newton WaterWorks regularly adjusts water rates every three or four years. However, in 1999, a study recommended staff increase water rates by 24 percent over a three-year period. The largest single year increase in recent memory was in 2006, which water rates increased by 19 percent to cover the loss of the Maytag Corporation. In 2016, staff raised rates by 9 percent.

Projected revenues from water sales are currently $3,090,000, according to documents obtained by the Newton Daily News. With the 5-percent rate adjustment, that revenue estimate increases to $3,255,000. Operating expenses are projected to be $2,869,866, not including inventory, capital purchases and principal and interest payments.

No tax dollars are used to fund Newton WaterWorks, which is solely operated on water sales revenues.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com