Ark Valley News - Park City leaves water, sewer rates alone

Park City leaves water, sewer rates alone
By David Dinell
Last Updated: February 12, 2015

There will be no changes in water and sewer rates for Park City's residential and commercial customers in 2015. At its Feb. 10 meeting, the Park City council voted to keep rates the same.

The caveat is that if there were some major unforeseen circumstance — such as a major line break or an unusually wet year that leads to sharply lower water use — that could change, but currently, an increase is off the table.

"There's not a need for them this year," Mayor Ray Mann said.

The council will be revisiting this issue early next year, so, depending on conditions, an increase could be on tap then.

The water base rate for residential customers is $21 a month and for commercial customers, it's $24 monthly. There also is a variable fee for water and sewer use above the base.

Sewer rates are $25.75 for both residential and commercial customers.

Park City customers get almost all of their water from the Chisholm Creek Utility Authority, with a minimal amount purchased from Wichita each year under the terms of the water purchase agreement.

There had been a prolonged discussion at the last council meeting about the possibility of raising rates and the staff did further research on it.

The reason for the possible increase was projected shortfalls between the revenue and expense.

Because of some transfers, however, additional funding won't be needed, although the city's sewer financial projections are "a little weak," said City Administrator Jack Whitson.

The only reason to increase rates would be to build up a reserve, Whitson said, but the council decided that's not necessary now.

Water and sewer will be monitored on a monthly basis, Whitson said, in case there's a dramatic change.

Council members also made it clear they want to be seen by potential home buyers and new businesses as an attractive contrast to Wichita, which has been imposing a steady series of rate increases.

Wichita rate increases vary from 4.4 percent to 5.9 percent for residential customers and more than 6 percent for industrial and commercial customers.

The Park City rate increased previously discussed was 3 percent for both residential and commercial.

In other action Feb. 10, the council:

•Approved the purchase of two new patrol vehicles for the police department at a cost of $53,586. The vehicles are Ford Explorer SUVs and will come from Rusty Eck Ford. The department has eight marked vehicles, including five SUVs, and is phasing out its Ford Crown Victoria vehicles in favor of SUVs. "Our experience has been very positive with them," said chief Phillip Bostian. There was a slightly less expensive bid from a Kansas City area dealership, but Bostian believes travel to and from that dealership wouldn't make the savings worthwhile.

•Authorized spending up to $72,000 for appraisals for street right of ways for road construction. Some 30 pieces of property need to be appraised for an improvement project along 53rd. The appraisals can range from $1,400 each to $2,400 each. Whitson wants the project done by June so the city make a deadline to apply for federal funding. In a related development, Whitson said that there could be an issue with the traffic lights at 53rd and Broadway as the traffic count there doesn't meet federal standards for new lights. The lights will be moved when turning lanes are put in, however, if the lights are to be restored, the city may end up paying for them. An alternative would be to have a four-way stop there, however, that could lead to more accidents.

•Listened to Whitson report that work got underway on two new homes in January. "That's a good start to the year and we hope to keep it up," he said. Whitson also reported that the city experienced good traffic and interest at its booth at the recent home show at Century II in Wichita. Also, he will be meeting this week with architects working on the new city hall building.