The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-11-26

EvudUSSas
 Service Assessment
 Tn addition to tho consumption and service charges it iS felt that some recognition must be given Co tho fact that it costs the city Q minimum amount to provide water gegviee Co those wishing Co use city water. Az Q matter of fact, whether tho consumer uses this service or not, the city must keep men on the payroll to service tho system, st must maintain the water works, and siat- urally tt must service the debt which has been incurred Co build the system. If 6 consumer does not avaN himself of this service 1t is only faiT that he should be called upon to pay for the minimum cost Of keeping service available for his use when, and #, he should demand it. For this reason it iS recofn- nlended that the water consumer shouid pay his share for this serv- Ice, and that the cost should be gradaiated for the demand tho city is holding available for his use. The fairest way of determining this minimum charge, and the one recs commended by authorities on water rates, Is in terms of meter size graduated in proportion to the ea. pacity of the flow of the meter used. It is easily seen that the minimum charge for c consumer with Q c" meter should he much larger than one with Q 6/B" meter, because the consumer with the larger meter can create ct Q moments notice c much large demand than the one with the smaller meter.
 The expenses of the water depart. Enent are pretty definitely fixed. The debt service is c set amount and must Dc met, which leaves the sum Allocated for replacement and re. newalg aS the only item in the rate base with any degree of Aexihility. This is . relatively small amount because the nature oS 6 water syS- tenn is such that once completed it appreciates slowly In view of this 1t is very important that the total revenue now received in the water department Do maintained at the present level and if pomable increas- cd. In making the analysis of the revenue expected to be received lt Is equally important that this analysis be made for Q year which would be average. On the other hand, the revenue estimates should not be based on Q year ia whiah the dc. Enand was unusually low, because rates set up on the basis of such c study would be unduly high and would tend to increase the water department revenues exorbitantly. The objective of Q municipal water system is to furnish water at the lowest possible cost to the consumer, and not to build up profits. The year i940 appeared to be good average for this purpose. This study, and the Teconimendation therein, are based on the facts dee termined from an aTlalySas of the operations of the water department for that particular year.
 Favorable Rates
 The water rates now in force iE other cities have been given con- siderable study. It has been recog. niEed, however, that conditions vary between cities and Q rate system for each city is pretty much, what might be termed, "tailor- made proposition" The cost of supplying water to Waterbury, with . hilly terrain, would naturally be much higher than some other community which does not have the pressure problems to contend with that we have here in Waterbury. However, as the accompanying schedule shows, the revised rates compare very favorably, and are lower than practically every community with comparable reserves and with ap- proximately the same population.
 Considerable thought has been given to the possibility of selling water to adjacent towns such as WatertoWn, Oakville, Thomaston and Naugatuck. Tn this conn S:tion 1t must be kept in mind that the proposed water rates do not include q charge for fire protection. This service Is included in the tax rate as a charge to the fire department. It Is generally considered fair to add 20 to 90 percent to the water rates to cover this charge. There fore, 1t Is recommended, that if water is sold to surrounding com- nSunittes. the rates be such, as to re- tmburce the City of Waterbury for the cost of fire protection.
 A municipal water system is de- signed to sell water at, or as near as possible, to cost and 1t Is felt, therefore, in setting up the costs which make up the rate base little, If any, consideration be given to a return on investment above that nec- essary to maintain the plant in first class condition, and to provide for renewals and extensions. Any re- turn above this should be reflected in lower water rates or a decreased tax rate. It is recommended that the rate base include the following costs:
 Operating expenses 9i3OOOO.OO
 Interest and debt re.
 duction ............ 60o.OOo.O0
 For extensions and rec
 newals ............ 100000
 Total ............&7 &7O0,000.00