WILLIAMSBURG – Homeowners in Williamsburg will pay an extra $15 this year for their sewer service.
South Dundas council approved the increase last week, which works out to a 10 per cent increase. The $165 rate per user (previously $150) is retroactive to the Jan. 1.
The move is meant to cover the purchase of a computerized management and data control system (SCADA) for the sewage treatment plant. The municipality borrowed from reserves in October 2017 to pay for it.
According to a staff report, the reserve fund was at $73,187 at the end of 2017. There will be draw down on that reserve this year by roughly $18,000 for the completion of the SCADA system and to fund part of a lagoon study.
The 10 per cent rate hike will allow a transfer of roughly $8,435 back into that account.
The last time Williamsburg sewer rates were hiked was in 2015 when property owners were stung with a 53 per cent hike (from $98 per unit to $150).