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Barclay sewer hearing: staff proposes rate changes to eliminate $30,000 annual shortfall; town commissioner asks for time to grow
Summary
Public Works presented proposed rate changes for the Barclay Sewer Subdistrict to move the system from a $30,000 annual deficit to break-even, including a per-EDU ready-to-serve charge and an $2/month customer fee; Barclay Commissioner Robin McKinney asked the board to delay or phase increases while the town grows.
At a public hearing on the Barclays Sewer Subdistrict, Public Works Director Alan Quimby outlined a financial shortfall and proposed rate changes intended to move the subdistrict to break-even. Quimby said annual expenditures for the Barclay portion of service are about $135,000 while revenues total about $105,000, representing roughly a $30,000 annual loss. The subdistrict has only 99 accounts, making cost-spreading difficult.
Staff proposed a $2 per month customer charge (countywide sanitary-district customer charge), shifting the ready-to-serve fee from a per-account basis to a per-EDU basis (which Quimby said would have no impact on a single-family home but could affect multi-unit properties), an O&M increase that would add about $8/month for a single-family home, keeping the pump fee unchanged, and a 5% annual escalator to begin July 1, 2027. Quimby emphasized the measures would get Barclay into the black but would not build reserves or fund upgrades.
Robin McKinney, identifying herself as a Barclay town commissioner, asked the board to give the town time to grow before being required to shoulder higher rates. "We were told at the beginning that the warranty on these pumps was 10 years, not 5," she said, and urged commissioners to allow the town to add EDUs after the 12-year building moratorium was lifted so costs can be spread more broadly.
The hearing record for this matter will be left open for two weeks to accept written comments; staff and the commissioners may adjust rates from those advertised before any adoption vote.
