The Fort Wayne City Council meets this evening in Committee Session at 5:30 pm in room 30 (Council Discussion Room) on the Garden level of Citizens Square at 200 East Berry Street.
There is a public hearing on the agenda for ordinance G-20-01-37. This is in regards to raising sewer usage rates and associated fees to cover Consent Decree work for the Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO).
One of the more interesting “whereas” sections, at least to me, reads:
Whereas, Indiana Code 8-1.5-3-8 states that rates and charges of municipally owned utilities are unlawful if they are too low to produce income sufficient to maintain the utility property in a sound physical and financial condition to render adequate and efficient services; and….
It is illegal for a utility to operate in the red.
Basically, your Fort Wayne residential sewer bill is going up by $2.39. This is for a typical bill.
So, tonight is your night to air your opinions before the City Council. It probably won’t do any good because, as cited above, it’s illegal for Fort Wayne City Utilities to operate at a loss, therefore the increase is necessary.
If you would like, here’s a video covering the first 12 years of work completed by City Utilities:
During the Committee Session, Council will hear the plan devised by City Utilities to fund the next five years of improvements required by the Consent Decree. Details about this may be found here.
The agenda may be downloaded here.
Related Images:
