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East Cedar Creek FWSD
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Rates-Policy
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Background Information on Rates Like all governmental
agencies, East Cedar Creek Fresh Water Supply District (ECCFWSD) is a non-profit organization.
The District was created by the 65th Unlike the large majority
of governmental agencies, the District has no access to tax dollars to fund expensive treatment plants and water distribution
and wastewater collection infrastructure. Since its founding, the District has
never pursued the authority to “assess, levy, and collect taxes” as a source of revenue. Without a tax base, the
District is almost totally dependent upon its customer base for the revenues necessary to cover expenses. Ninety-eight percent of its annual revenues come directly from existing and new customers based upon water
and sewer rates, fees, penalties and deposits approved by an elected Board of Directors. The District’s table
of water and sewer rates and fees is a large array of numbers based on various meter sizes and usage amounts. The table can be found in the FORMS area of this website. These rate increases can
be tied to the cost of replacing or upgrading substandard facilities and infrastructure absorbed by the District at the time
of and since its founding. State requirements and standards concerning water
quality and sewer treatment have continued to steadily increase, requiring additional upgrades to existing systems. While the rates put in
place by 1997 probably seemed high to the customer base at that time, the rates were necessary to fund bond issues to build
a new water treatment plant and a new wastewater treatment plant in the southern
portion of the district. The rate increases in 2001 were put in place to fund
a $2.6 million expansion of the water treatment plant and sewer upgrades in the northern portion of the district. The District hears a lot
of criticism concerning its water and sewer rates. When comparing the district’s
rates to other water and sewer service providers, we encourage consideration as to whether the other provider has access to
tax dollars to fund capital improvements. Also, one should determine if the other
provider is listing water and sewer service separate from capital cost on monthly billings. The District does not
separate service cost and capital cost. If the District were to separate these
costs on monthly customer billings, district customers would see their water and wastewater service costs reduced by $21 but
with a separate capital cost of the same amount. |