Troup water rates on the rise ...
BY SUZANNE LOUDAMY Staff writer

Residents of Troup will see an increase in their water rates on their April bill. The minimum bill will rise by $1.17 per month. The average user's tab, in the 5,000 gallon range, will see an increase of approximately $2.97 per month. Water and sewer tap fees will also increase.

In 2006, the Troup City Council recruited the services of Dan Jackson with Economists.com. His initial finding was that the City of Troup was already behind in the cost of service. Other reasons listed in his report to the council included inflation, general increases in the cost of doing business, need to rebuild or replace aging systems and environmental and other regulations.

Jackson's report included various ways to recoup the losses and get the rates on schedule. The Inverted Block Conservation Rates method was the way the council chose to go. This system has the customers who use the least amount of water paying the least amount of increase.

Jackson listed advantages to this method as: promotes conservation of a precious, diminishing natural resource; minimizes rate adjustments on low volume, low income users; becoming increasingly popular across Texas and the United States.

The only real disadvantage to this method is that it can result in significant rate adjustments for high volume users.

After studying the findings, council approved the water and wastewater increase during their regular meeting on Feb. 13.

While no one is comfortable with paying more for products or services, in his report, Jackson urged the council to keep in mind that water and wastewater rates are increasing throughout the country.

Rate adjustments are necessary to eliminate water fund deficits, to repair the system and to ensure that the city will have adequate water supplies for the future. Implementing rates over a period of years will minimize impact on ratepayers and encourage conservation.