Water and sewer fees to rise in Crested Butte

Less than a cup of coffee a day…for most

Your Crested Butte water and sewer bill will increase next year. The Town Council agreed to a rate increase for both water bills and sewer bills. Look for a 10 percent increase in the water bill and a 3 percent increase in the wastewater side of the equation. The final decision will come when the council adopts the 2011 budget.

The council discussed the issue at a budget work session on October 14. Town finance director Lois Rozman explained that the water and sewer fund was an enterprise fund that had to be run like a business—and that business is not meeting costs.
“We are proposing increases for the water the sewer, the tap fees and the availability fees,” Rozman said. “If we don’t do a rate increase we’ll have an operating loss of $110,000 for water and $26,000 for sewer.”
Rozman said times have changed. “In the past, we’ve lived on tap fees,” she said. “We knew we couldn’t do that forever and we are now at that time when new taps don’t bring in enough money anymore.”
Rozman said in 2008 the town staff let it be known that a 23 percent increase in service fees was needed. The council at the time agreed to a 13 percent increase. When the recession hit, the staff deferred the additional 10 percent increase and looked for efficiencies in the system. “We found some ways to make it smoother and save costs, but we still need an increase,” she said.
“I think the increase is fine,” said councilperson Jim Schmidt. “It’s less than a cup of coffee a day.”
Rozman said the increase would be about $36 a year for a residential user who doesn’t go over the one EQR allotment. An EQR is the Equivalent Residential Unit that basically supplies enough water for one 1,875-square-foot residence. “But we have some businesses in town that will see a more substantial hit,” said Rozman. “There is one business that will see a $745 increase. There will be some impacts.”
“Water is necessary,” said councilperson Dan Escalante. “We aren’t talking fluffy things like flowers. When it comes to water, we have to do what we have to do.”
The council agreed to the increase and it will be part of the 2011 budget. A public hearing on the budget will be held November 15.