By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
The Town of Davis voted March 13th to raise water rates by $15.00 a month. Under the new rate, residents of Davis will begin paying a new rate of $52.52, an increase of $15.45.
Town of Davis Mayor Al Tomson said that a majority of the issues with water rates is tied to the Median Household Income (MHI) which as raised 15% between 2015 and 2020 in Davis. This has caused the need for an increase in water rates due to how MHI is tied to low interest loans and grants the Town receives, according to Tomson, with many programs having a percentage requirement that the Town will not meet without the rate increase. The MHI in the Town of Davis has raised from $36,250 in 2015 to $42,019 in 2020, according to Tomson. “That’s problem for us trying to run sewer and water projects because when you go looking for grants and you go looking for borrowing cheap money, low interest that often is forgiven, you have to be within a certain percentage of your MHI.”
Tomson said that he knows many citizens of Davis are on fixed incomes and do not make even the median income level. “Many of you may sit around here and wonder, if that is the median income, $46,000, who are all of the people that are driving it up?” Tomson said. “Because it keeps going up and a lot of people in this town are on fixed incomes and don’t even get to that figure.”
Tomson said another contributing factor is the Town’s near $90,000 deficit in the Water Department. A deficit Tomson attributed to the increase cost of chemicals, maintenance , equipment and wage costs, as well as increases in system breaks that cause water outages. “For this past year, we are just under $90,000 in a deficit, in arrears,” Tomson said. “$86,753. Everything is going up.”
A motion made by Mayor Tomson to raise the water rates $15.45 was unanimously passed by the council.
In other water related business, the Town also voted to approve a $40,000 repair to the Town’s Water Plan Building, as well as for the installation of a Master Meter and Check Valve in Pendletonheim in the amount of $11,700. The Pendletonheim work is needed, according to Tomson, to allow the water to the area to be completely shut off, if needed, as well as prevent backwater contamination to the lines. The Water Plant Building repairs are mostly structural repairs to the brick mortar, according to Tomson.
In executive session, the Town Council discussed a negotiation to purchase the old Shop ‘n Save building next door to Town Hall. Mayor Tomson confirmed that the Town had decided to engage in negotiation for the property and that the talks are progressing. “Yes, we are negotiating with the owners of the old Shop & Save. And, so far so good.,” Tomson wrote in an email to The Parsons Advocate.
While the parking lot area has been used for various functions throughout the years, there is no word on what the Town intends to do with the building. The Parsons Advocate will continue to provide updates as they become available.
