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Utility Committee To Study Rates

By Molly Novotny

(Created: Wednesday, May 9, 2007 7:49 AM EDT)

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At the suggestion of Council members Kevin Wright and Kelly Burk, the Leesburg Town Council established an advisory committee to study the town's utility rate structure.

The committee, which will consist of seven in-town residents and two out-of-town customers will "annually review the relevant information provided by staff necessary for the establishment of utility rates and provide a recommendation to the Town Council so that rates can be established as part of the Town's annual budget process," according to the resolution, which passed 5-1-1 Tuesday.

Mayor Kristen C. Umstattd was the lone dissenter, while Fernando "Marty" Martinez, who said Monday he supported the concept, was absent for the vote.

Umstattd and other members expressed concern that the proportion of in-town and out-of-town customers on the commission could shift if the town serves land in its Joint Land Management Area without annexing it. To address that, the membership was set at the 7-2 ratio, which reflects today's proportion of customers.

Each council member will nominate one in-town resident to represent them on the committee and any member can suggest the two out-of-town representatives, council members decided.

Vice Mayor Susan Horne wanted to ensure that none of the plaintiffs suing the town were named to the committee, to which Town Attorney Barbara Beach said it would be a conflict of interest for a named plaintiff and could be for others depending on their affiliation with any of the homeowner's associations named in the suit.

Councilman Ken Reid expressed concern about forming another standing committee Monday.

"I think we have too many commission folks. I really do," he said Monday. "I would like us, before we add another commission, to get rid of [a few]."

Reid voted for the measure Tuesday, albeit with some hesitancy, he said.

The study group, which was earlier discussed as being a commission, will be a committee and will not receive stipends from the town, a suggestion Councilwoman Katie Sheldon Hammler made Tuesday.



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Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of Leesburg Today.
Total Comments: 4 comment(s)

47585 wrote on May 26, 2007 1:56 PM:

" One thing I forgot to include in my previous posting is if the water surcharge (which amounts to 20% additional revenue for the utility) was spread out evenly across the entire customer base, it would result in a 2% increase for in town users. Which means their water bills would rise by about 2, 3 or at the most 4 dollars per quarter. So individually the mayor and town council is not saving individual town consumers much in terms of money. However, they are also alienating the out of town customers and impacting Leesburg's ability to establish business relationships with anyone outside of the town. In the future, no one outside of teh town will want water from Leesburg, and this will have an impact since expenses will continue to rise but the customer base will not. So in the end everyone will be paying significantly more. Thank you Ms. Mayor for your narrowly defined vision.. "

47585 wrote on May 25, 2007 9:31 PM:

" I have ti give credit to Kevin Wright and Kelly Burk. From everything I have read, they have not supported the 100% water/sewer surcharge on the county residents. Their courage should be recognized and applauded. As for the Mayor, she is another story. She seems to despise anyone who does not pay Leesburg town taxes which is about 99,9999% of the US population. The conflict of interest staement is interesting because it would seem evryone on the town council would have a conflict of interest since they benefit themselves by setting lower in town rates - but this does not worry any of them. I want to give this committee a chance but it is hard to believe they will be supportive in raisiong in town rates and lower the county resident's rates. Furthermore the town council has already ignored the advice of their own paid consultanta so I don't see much chance for this committee. "

Scarecrow wrote on May 22, 2007 5:03 PM:

" As stated in the above article, "Each council member will nominate one in-town resident to represent them on the committee and any member can suggest the two out-of-town representatives, council members decided." This means that the members of this committee will vote the way the Council wants them to vote. If they don't, then the Council will have the member(s) removed from the committee. And only 2 representatives for out-of-town users who will be appointed by Council-appointed members? How fair will this be? This Council-appointment committee will be nothing but a waste of time! "

WakeUpLeesburg wrote on May 21, 2007 11:28 AM:

" Had the mayor and town council listened to the recommendations of the water authority auditor in the first place none of this would be necessary. The town's vindictive pursuit of taxes from its county water customers, who opted not to be annexed into the town, is at the root of this mess. Had fair and equitable rates been put in place that did not create a separate class for customers who happen to live outside the town limits there would be no pending lawsuit against the town. The town sued the county for the right to provide county residents water services based on the premise that it could do so at lower cost to the customer. In the end the county water customer lost out, caveat emptor! "



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