WESTMINSTER : Panel Recommends Hike in Water Rate

A fiscal review committee, which was formed by the City Council last November after acrimonious public debate over water rates, has called for a modest increase in the cost of water.

The committee recommended that the city increase the water rate from 73 cents to 89 cents per 748 gallons to recover the cost of delivering water to homes and businesses.

The committee’s unanimous recommendations included the creation of a “lifeline rate” for low-income households, set at 70% of the basic rate. To hold down costs, the committee also proposed the elimination of seven unfilled positions in the water department for a savings of $250,000 a year.

The 10-member residents’ committee was formed in November after several months of heated public debate that followed the council’s March, 1991, decision to double the water rate from 63 cents to $1.26 per 748 gallons. The rate hike was intended to recover the full cost of delivering water, which had been subsidized by the city for years.

After intense public pressure, which included failed recall drives against the mayor and two councilmen, the council later scuttled the higher rate and substituted a 73-cent rate that remains in effect.

City Clerk Mary Lou Morey said the council will hold a study session with the committee, followed by a public hearing to consider the recommendations within the next month.