Council OKs sewer rate hike

To combat the $34,000-plus debt that Troy has accrued in its Sewer Department, City Council agreed to move forward on rate changes.

City Clerk Tracy Rebo came up with a rate swap scenario where sewer rates (already among the highest in Montana) would go up by $2 monthly and power and water would each drop by $1.

The latter funds each have several hundred thousand dollars in surplus, but juggling funds from power and water to sewer is illegal, meaning Troy must find another way to erase the debt.

The rate swap may be a solution, but it is not quite as simple as a one-to-one change.

Troy has 880 electric users and only 546 sewer users, as nearly 300 properties on Iron Creek are technically “in-county” and use septic systems instead of Troy sewer.

A possible solution mentioned at the meeting was to raise out-of-city rates to match the levels. It was dismissed out-of-hand as discriminatory for county residents. Instead the idea was proposed to raise prices for sewer in city, while reducing the “base-rate” from $10 to $9 or $8 for city residents. 

The base-rate is a price all power users pay monthly regardless of usage. Rebo and Council members are looking into charging city and county residents a different base-rate. This solution would switch money inflow from power to sewer while not being discriminatory to county residents.

   Two city users have special sewer rates and would be adjusted accordingly. The car wash gets a special sewer rate and the schools pay a $400 a month flat rate which would need to be increased by the neighborhood of 6 percent.

   Rebo plans to move forward with this base-rate plan and will have more details by the City Council’s next meeting on Oct. 11.

   A related subject to the sewer prices is the fact that Troy is losing potentially millions of gallons of water every year because of major pipe leakage in its 11 miles of pipe.

   The water-line project is the next big thing on the city slate. Councilman Phil Fisher and Mayor Tony Brown were adamant on trying to keep the work in Troy.

   About $50,000 was set aside in the city budget for water-line replacement, and labor costs were estimated around $31,000.

   Leak detection would be the first priority of the city, but laying new pipe is something the council believed Troy could more than handle itself.

   “Why spend this much money on labor when we have men who know how to do it?” Fisher asked.

In other City Council proceedings…

•With Charles Evans resigning as City Attorney, Troy is holding a quick job search for a worthy candidate. Evans will help for a 60-day transition period if needed.

• A Facebook snafu prompted a new social media policy by the Police Department.