DALTON, Ga. - Customers of Dalton Utilities could pay up to $8 more a month for utility services next year, but officials with the city-owned utility said Monday they hope to avoid any increases in marginal energy or water rates by paring capital investments and operating expenses.
Dalton Utilities President Don Cope on Monday outlined a proposed budget for 2011 that limits the increases in most utility rates while still paying off most of the utility's remaining debt. Cope said the utility will defer some capital projects and cut some labor expenses to avoid any marginal rate increases, although the budget calls for base rates for electricity and gas to go up by $3 a month in January and for water and wastewater fees to increase by $1 a month for each service next year.
"We're proposing no rate increases [in marginal utility prices[ recognizing the circumstances that our community finds itself in economically," Cope said. "We realize that many of our customers are suffering economically, so we challenged ourselves to put a budget together much different from where we began in this process."
The proposed budget, which the utility board will vote upon Nov. 15, will leave the price of telecommunications services offered through Dalton's OptiLink unchanged.
Smith Foster, chairman of the Dalton Water, Light and Sewer Fund Commission that oversees Dalton Utilities, said he was "prepared to take the flak for raising rates" and originally expected that marginal rates would have to be increased along with base fees to cover rising costs for stormwater, new plant construction and employee pensions.
"None of us wanted to increase rates if there is any possible way to avoid it, but at the same time we have a responsibility to keep this utility in good financial shape," Foster said. "I'm pleasantly surprised and very proud of the staff's efforts to hold the line on costs."
The utility will use its reserves to pay off some of its debt early and plans to be debt-free in its electric system by the end of 2011, Cope said.
With more than 13,000 electricity customers, Dalton Utilities expects to generate nearly $109.7 million in electricity sales next year, up 4.6 percent from this year. The increase reflects an expected rebound in the economy, plus nearly $500,000 in extra revenue from the base-rate increase.
Natural gas revenues are projected to decline slightly, reflecting the decline in the commodity price of that fuel.
The preliminary budget outlines a plan for Dalton Utilities to spend $2 million next year on stormwater upgrades, but that plan is contingent upon the city's paying for the service or establishing a stormwater fee to fund the budget, Cope said.
HIGHER BASE FEES
The proposed 2011 budget by Dalton Utilities will raise base fees but not marginal rates for its services next year:
* Electric base rates will rise from $8.30 to $11.30 per month.
* Natural gas base rates will rise from $3.30 to $6.30 per month.
* Water base rates will rise from $10.60 to $11.60 per month.
* Wastewater base fees will increase from $9.60 to $10.60 per month.
Source: Proposed 2011 budget for Dalton Utilities