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Bloomington board forwards updated utility ordinance to attorney, flags sewer shortfall
Summary
At its Oct. 6 meeting the Village Board voted to forward an updated utility ordinance with corrected water and sewer schedules to the village attorney for final adjustments; trustees were also warned the sewer utility is projected to run a 30% loss even after recent rate increases.
The Village Board of Bloomington voted Oct. 6 to send an updated utility ordinance, including water and sewer schedules, to the village attorney for final adjustments after trustees identified discrepancies in the listed rates and discussed the utilities' financial outlook.
Clerk/Treasurer Shawna Atterbury told trustees the ordinance's sewer schedule listed a fixed quarterly charge of $36 and a volume charge of $3.60 per 1,000 gallons, which do not match the village's current charges of $61.58 for the fixed quarterly fee and $6.73 per 1,000 gallons. "The schedule in the draft doesn’t match what we are charging," Atterbury said, and President Robert McLimans agreed to contact Mr. Hoppman at Delta 3 to verify the correct rates.
McLimans said he had confirmed with Delta 3 and with Johnson Block that the new water tariff includes a "water lateral installation charge" allowing the utility to recover actual lateral installation costs where those costs are not otherwise recovered under Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 66. After trustees reviewed those provisions, McLimans moved and Trustee Dennis Moris seconded a motion to forward the ordinance to Attorney Wood for final adjustments; the motion passed unanimously.
At the meeting Atterbury also presented draft utility budgets: the water utility is projected to show a $66,650 net income under the proposed budget, while the sewer utility is projected to have a roughly 30% loss even after cumulative rate increases of 45% implemented over the past year (10% in Q4 2024, 15% in Q1 2025 and 15% in Q2 2025). The board discussed implications for future rates and direction to staff to verify tariff language and the correct schedule figures before final adoption.
Background documents and rate verification will be reviewed with the village attorney and Delta 3 before the ordinance is returned for final board action. The board also scheduled further utilities discussion ahead of the November meeting.
