Westville adopts water-rate ordinance tied to correctional-facility connection; council votes 4-0

Westville Town Council adopted Ordinance 20 25 6 on a unanimous 4-0 vote, approving new municipal water rates and a meter-size fire-protection surcharge tied to the recent connection with the Westville Correctional Facility (WCC).

Tyler, a consultant from Baker Tilly who presented the town's rate study, told the council that “the post project operating budget is $1,100,000,” and that the WCC will pay roughly “73%” of plant-capacity–related charges, leaving town customers to cover the remaining share. He also described a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes calculation the study estimated at about $170,000 per year to approximate property-tax liability for the WCC.

The study and the ordinance introduce a monthly fire-protection surcharge assessed by meter size and an equivalency factor. Tyler said the ordinance sets the base surcharge for 5/8-inch and 3/4-inch meters at $3.45 per month: “the rate ordinance says 5 eighths inch through 3 quarter…