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The city of Dunkirk set a public hearing for Sept. 15 at 5:30 p.m. on its planned changes to water rates.
The Common Council scheduled the hearing Tuesday. It will be held before the council's next meeting, in the second-floor chambers at City Hall.
The proposed changes would raise the minimum usage fee from $20 to $30 and boost the price of water used over a gallon benchmark to $5.00 per 1,000 gallons, from the current $4.33. The benchmark, after which users get charged the per-thousand-gallon price, would be raised to 3,000 gallons. It's now 2,000 gallons.
The proposal also removes a "declining block rate" system that charges large industrial users less for big quantities of water.
I've consistently supported the elimination of the declining block rate, particularly because our existing structure provides increasingly favorable rates to our largest users as the consumption increases," Councilman-at-large Nick Weiser said. "At the same time, I think it's important that any changes to the rate structure be based on a clear understanding of the financial impact -- both on the city's finances, and on the people and businesses who pay these bills."
Weiser said the council received financial projections associated with the proposed rate changes earlier that day. He asked new City Comptroller Tracy Smith-Dengler to "walk us through those numbers and explain the rationale behind the proposal."
She said water rates "is a subject that was brought to me on my very first day on the job," adding, "We've done a pretty deep dive into where we are and where we've come from."
Smith-Dengler repeated earlier statements that city water rates haven't changed since 2017, "and we can't be sure they haven't changed since 2014, based on some of the information we see."
The comptroller said the declining block rate means industrial customers "are paying far less to buy our water than it costs us to produce our water -- which means our enterprise fund, which is designed to do nothing other than raise revenue for the city, has failed in that objective."
She went over the monthly minimum increases and the fee hikes, stating that the new $5 per 1,000 over 3,000 gallons rate will apply to all customers due to the elimination of the block rate.
"We do understand that this is not a one and done... Subsequent to this, we will also be looking at sewer rates. We'll be talking with our partners with the North County Water District. There have been concerns raised from those participating partners about the formula we are using, and whether perhaps there can be a more manageable system, rather than this very complex formula that we have inherited for that."
Smith-Dengler went on to reiterate Dunkirk officials' contention that "Our rates to all of our customers will still be substantially lower than neighboring communities."
She said state officials, including those from the Office of the State Comptroller that directly watch city finances, exclaim, "What the heck are you doing, you’re giving your water away."
Smith-Dengler said the city projects $5.6 million in 2027 water revenue. Councilwoman Natalie Luczkowiak asked how that would compare to this year's projected revenue. Randy Woodbury, Department of Public Works supervisor, replied that this year's revenue would project to about three-quarters what the 2027 total would be if the rate changes pass.