Tennessee American Water Company’s rate hike is now flowing to municipalities like Signal Mountain, which just passed a nearly 15 percent rate increase.
“What we got from Tennessee American, we just passed on the increase directly,” said Town Manager Honna Rogers. “It will go into effect on [April] 21st for residents. It’s already started for us. Between now and the 21st [the town] will bear that cost.”
She couldn’t estimate how much money that will mean for the town, but citizens both inside and outside town limits can expect about a $10 increase on their minimum quarterly bill, according to a spreadsheet she prepared.
The situation is an example of why the town is considering upgrading to automatic water readers, which would allow monthly billing. The measure will be discussed in detail, along with other budgetary considerations, during a public budget workshop Monday, May 2 beginning at 11 a.m.
“We’ll just have to be willing to weigh how much to pay for these benefits,” Rogers said. “Is it worth the cost to be on a monthly reading? Either way, we have to buy new meters this year because ours are behind; we’ll either be buying basic or automatic ones.”
She said the life expectancy of meter systems is typically 10 years. The town’s is 12 years old.
Rogers is communicating with various companies about costs, so finite figures could fluctuate, but there is definitely a several hundred thousand dollar difference in the cost of the two kinds of systems, according to her. The most basic will still cost several hundred thousand dollars in itself.
In addition to allowing the town to better recoup costs associated with outside influences, automatic meters and readers would provide better cash flow and make the data process easier on town employees, Rogers said, thus saving labor and the overtime sometimes associated with it.
“Because of our system’s size, we don’t have an abundance of people [in the Water Department],” she said. “It’s very time-consuming. We usually have four men [reading meters] and they’re going to spend 19 hours each month – usually about three days – and that’s in the pouring down rain, ice and snow.”
She added the capabilities of the new monitoring system would also provide ease for homeowners in locating leaks and identifying other water issues, potentially saving them money as well.
“That’s something we’ve always kind of been bugged by quarterly billing. They could get a leak the day after we read [their meter] and they’re not going to know for three months,” she said.
The fact that the water will be more effectively measured could also mean higher bills in some cases. Officials estimate approximately 19 percent of water usage is unaccounted for annually. Rogers said while that may seem high, it’s better than most municipalities.
“To us it sounds like we’re losing one-fifth of our water, but it’s not like water is just going out into nowhere,” she said. “The meters may be off or something.”
The meter overhaul, whether with automatic or not, would likely occur at once rather than in phases, Rogers said.