Ark Valley News - Base water rates to increase for Kechi utility customers

Base water rates to increase for Kechi utility customers
By David Dinell
Last Updated: June 25, 2015

City of Kechi water customers will see an increase of $7 a month in their base water bills starting in January. That means they will be paying $22 monthly instead of the $15 they do currently.

The increase was approved by the Kechi City Council at its June 11 meeting, and while admitting that it's a sharp jump, city officials say it's necessary because they're losing money on the operation side of the service. Also, it's not fair to non-customers to make up the loss in other ways, such as increasing taxes, they say.

"We're about 13 percent underfunded," said City Administrator Bob Conger, "and each of our operations, water, sewer, gas, trash has to support itself." The base rate is not designed to make a profit, but to cover things such as staffing and infrastructure. Anything dealing with providing service is in the base rate.

The base rate has not increased since 2009 and the city had been covering the losses from the general fund, a procedure pointed out to officials by auditors.

"We hadn't done any serious analysis of the water system," Conger said.

The city gets its water from Wichita, although some Kechi residents are not hooked into the city's system and get their own water from wells.

The cost of the water itself will not increase. That rate is $39.25 for up to 5,000 gallons, $63.50 for 10,000 gallons and $94.75 for 15,000 gallons a month.

Kechi's new base rate will be slightly above average for the region, which has a $19.06 average. The region's averages for water are $36.54 for up to 5,000 gallon, $60.68 for up to 10,000 gallons and $87.73 for up to 15,000 gallons a month.

At $24.72, Bel Aire has the highest area base rate, and, at $11.65, Augusta has the lowest. "We're not the lowest, but we're not the highest," Conger said.

Other than drilling wells themselves, homeowners — and the city — don't have much in the way of choices when it comes to water supply. "There are not a lot of alternatives out there," Conger said.

Some area cities get water from the Chisholm Creek Utility Authority, but Kechi is not among them. If there are positives to the situation, he said, it's that the cost and availability of water is a challenge nationwide and in that regard, Kechi is doing fairly well. Also, the quality of the water itself is good and passes all state and federal environmental and safety tests. "It's a great product," Conger said.

In the second half of the year, city officials will be working to prepare water customers of the pending increase, including putting fliers in their bill statement.

In other action, the council:

Approved the mayor's appointment of 11 city officials in accordance with state law as part of the consent agenda. The action is a standard annual practice.

•Approved re-appointments recommended by the mayor of Virginia Riemann, Oscar Thomison and Richard Wolf to the planning commission for three-year terms.

•Received an update from Nicole Bailey, finance director and treasurer. Among her recent work was assembling revenue and expenditure projects for the 2016 budget.

•Got an update from Police Chief John Blevins. He reported that the Click-It Campaign resulted in issuing 113 citations. Those violations included driving with an open container, no insurance, driving on a suspended license and speeding. Blevins, along with the Sedgwick County Sheriff Reserves, took part in helping with the May 31 Wheelchair Sports Adaptive Cycling Time Trial and considered it to be a successful event.

•Read a report from City Clerk Laura Hill on her work activities. Hill said that George Lay Signs has started construction on the new marquee for the city. Also that a fireworks tent permit was sold for $2,500. In other matters, the city had to pay $3,454 for an additional premium in workers compensation insurance due to additional staff hires, however, the city received a dividend check from EMC Kansas Municipal Utilities Safety Group for $7,760, which help pay for the premium.

•Was informed by Hill that a rock kicked up by a city maintenance department worker's weed eater hit a vehicle June 1 that was being driven on Kechi Road. A window was damaged. The repair cost is less than the $500 deductible, so the city will pay $162.87 cash for it to be fixed.

•Received the 2014 audit report from Eric Meyer of the firm of George, Bowerman & Noel P.A. of Wichita. One aspect of the city's financial handing that the auditors pointed out for possible improvement was the "separation of duties" in dealing with money in order to provide more checks and balances. That, however, is a challenge for a city the size of Kechi, Conger said, because of its small staff, which numbers 14. Despite the size, Conger said financial management has not been a problem. "All of our books came out well," Conger said.

•Removed a new business item from the released agenda. The issue concerned the possibility of an $800,000 industrial revenue bond with JBoone Properties, however, because of a delay in a property transaction, the matter was no ready for consideration and will likely be brought forth at a later date.

There was one 15-minute executive session held for attorney client/personnel matters and there was no reportable action taken.

The next meeting is at 7 p.m. June 25 at City Hall.