Three Oaks committee reviews MRWA water and sewer rate study; business owners raise concerns

The Village of Three Oaks Public Service Committee on May 11 reviewed a Michigan Rural Water Association (MRWA) water and sewer rate study and an online informational tool designed to show how proposed meter-equivalent billing would affect customers. MRWA representative Joe VanDommelen said the proposal follows American Water Works Association (AWWA) standards and noted that "Water rates have not increased since approximately 2020," a point used to explain why changes are being studied.

Committee members and staff walked attendees through proposed ready-to-serve charges, usage fees, sample customer billing scenarios, and how fixed costs (staffing, debt, maintenance) and variable costs (treatment chemicals, electricity) factor into the model. The presentation stressed that larger meters require greater system capacity and therefore higher meter-equivalent allocations under the proposed structure.

Several local business owners said they supported infrastructure investment but raised substantive concerns about the scale of proposed increases, meter-equivalent calculations, timing of implementation, long-term financial assumptions, and potential impacts on tourism, employment and property values. Village staff responded that no rate increase had been approved, that the committee was collecting feedback, and that final decisions would come through future public hearings and ordinance procedures.