Utility Rate Study Eyed In Berlin

Utility Rate Study Eyed In Berlin

BERLIN –  A rate study by a regional nonprofit is expected to help ensure the town is managing its water and wastewater finances effectively.

Jean Holloway, representing the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project Inc. (SERCAP), presented the Berlin Town Council with plans for a rate study this week. Holloway, who in the early 1990s worked as town administrator in Berlin, is now the SERCAP state manager for Delaware and the Eastern Shore.

“The utilities should be paying their own cost and not be subsidized by the general fund,” Holloway said.

SERCAP, Holloway told the council, provides assistance to communities of under 10,000 from Delaware to Florida. Funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency and various other agencies allows SERCAP to offer its services to small jurisdictions at no cost to the community.

Holloway said that rates should be recovering the full cost of operations and should be based on a well-planned budget. Before any rate increase, however, she said meters should be checked to ensure they were accurate. She suggested a meter replacement program be implemented for those meters more than eight years old.

“The more detail you have on usage the more you can predict revenues,” she said.

Holloway said the town would also have to examine its billing and collections practices because nonpayment would cost everyone more in the long run.

Once the town supplies Holloway with the necessary data, she said it would take roughly 40 hours for her to complete a water study and an additional 10 to 20 hours to do a sewer study. Because she has several other projects underway, however, she said it would likely be early 2020 when she had something to submit to the town.

As part of the process Holloway said she would participate in public meetings to provide citizens with a better understanding of the process.

When asked how much inaccurate readings from old meters might be costing the town, Holloway said it was difficult to speculate.

“They’re probably under-registering but without testing every one of them it’s hard to tell,” she said.

She added that testing every one of the town’s 2,000-plus meters would take a significant amount of time.

Several council members expressed an interest in having the town host one of Holloway’s SERCAP training sessions in the future.

“I’d like to see something brought here for us as well as the community, if we could,” Councilman Thom Gulyas said.

Following Monday’s presentation, Town Administrator Laura Allen said she expected the rate study to prove beneficial for the town.

“At the end of the rate review process we completed earlier this year, the town indicated work would continue to ensure fixed as well as operating costs were fully supported by the rates,” Allen said.

She added that Holloway would provide the town with valuable insight.

“She brings a level of expertise regarding small water and sewer systems which will be very beneficial to this effort.”

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.