Cedartown to begin changing water rates

The City of Cedartown will be moving forward on updating the amount of water people receive at a base rate when they purchase their service through the city’s service in hopes of covering increasing costs of treatment. Officials voted unanimously to hear a first reading of an amendment to the city’s utility rate ordinance, that would cause an increase to only a small number of customers who use a large amount of water, according to city manager Bill Fann.

Currently, city water customers pay a base rate set at 500 cubic feet of water, or 3,744 gallons. What they seek to do is change the base amount of water to 300 cubic feet instead of 500, which Fann argued would only affect customers who use a larger amount of water.

“This would have no effect whatsoever on those who use the lowest amount of water in the system, around a third of the customer base which amounts to more than 1,200- plus customers,” Fann said.

It isn’t an across the board rate change, Fann said.

He previously brought t he i ssue before t he board in December last year when after Fann studied numbers ahead of approving a 2018 budget for the calendar year, he found that the water department had a shortfall of $400,000 that was explained by t he i ncrease in costs for materials to treat water to make it safe for human consumption.

Fann cited both then and now that Cedartown customers pay well under the going base rates for water compared to the surrounding area.

Across Northwest Georgia, comparing what Cedartown customers pay compared to Bremen, Cave Spring, Tallapoosa, Rockmart, Polk and Floyd counties, with the city’s water rates falling at $10 for the first 500 cubic feet of water served for a base rate, plus $2.24 for every 100 cubic feet of water after to customers whether in a household or business.

By comparison, Rockmart customers pay $8.84 per cubic foot, with an additional $3.31 per 100 cubic feet of water. On the other end of the spectrum, Polk County customers pay $14.19 for 267 cubic feet of water, and $4.60 per every 100 cubic feet following.

To translate that into something easier to understand, 100 cubic feet of water equals just over 748 gallons of water. So for $ 10, customers get 3,740 gallons of water in Cedartown.

Cedartown measures water in cubic feet instead of gallons, Fann explained. He said that was a policy put in place by previous administrations without any particular reason. Most water authorities measure their water by the gallon.

Commissioners also approved several other items before closing business for the night. That included giving permission for organizers of the Youth Summerfest Olympics to use the Bert Wood Youth and Athletic Complex for their annual event in Cedartown, approval of an annexation ordinance for a parcel on Rockmart Highway that will become C-2 when it enters the city, and for three different alcohol licenses for distribution in two different stores, and for wholesaler Imperial Trading which has returned to Cedartown on West Avenue.

The commission also gave their approval the annual lease agreement with Cedartown’s youth baseball league, which had no changes other than to update the dates which they will be using the facilities exclusively. Those dates stretch from March 1 through July 15 for spring and summer baseball games, and then they return from Aug. 15 through Nov. 18 for fall baseball league play. They also agreed unanimously to allow for a deed fix to Cedar and Smoke’s former location to allow for a slice of the property owned by the city to be included in the building’s outline, since it now includes a patio.

‘This would have no effect whatsoever on those who use the lowest amount of water in the system, around a third of the customer base which amounts to more than 1,200plus customers.’ Bill Fann Cedartown city manager