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Council utility committee sends rate increase back to Stormwater Management Board for further study

Last Updated on November 16, 2017 by cassnetwork

The Logansport City Council’s utility committee met for about two hours Thursday night and agreed to send the proposed stormwater rate increase back to the stormwater management board for further review.

About 20 people attended last night’s committee meeting. Council members heard comments from several local business owners, as well as LMU superintendent Paul Hartman and engineering and financial consultants for LMU.

The rate increases would fund a project that addresses stormwater overflow events during wet weather that the federal government has mandated must be alleviated.

The proposed rate increase of $17.80 per month for all customers would mean LMU’s residential customers would see their rates increase 201%, from $8.85 per month to $26.65 per month. Commercial, industrial and institutional customers would see increases of 7 to 40% per month.

The current rates are based on factors from a 1994 study when the stormwater projects began.

Committee chair Dave Morris said the stormwater board should consider comments from attorney Jim Brugh regarding the basis for the rate increase, redo the financial impact study to include reduced costs anticipated by changes to the design of the project, consider using stormwater and sewer depreciation funds as a means of financing a portion of the project and address the 1994 study and the rate questions that residents raised during Thursday’s meeting.a

The Utility Service Board also approved water and sewer rate increases at their October meeting. Due to the length of last night’s meeting, the utility committee agreed to schedule another meeting to discuss the proposed increases. LMU is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and rate increases must be approved by the Logansport City Council.

Cass County Online