By VERNON ROBISON
The Progress
The Moapa Valley Water District (MVWD) Board of Directors voted to raise water rates by 4 percent across the board at a meeting held on Friday, Dec. 3. The increase, effective on Jan. 1, 2022, will apply to all rates including the monthly base rate, the usage block rates, hydrant usage rates and payments in lieu of dedication fees.
The increase was a percentage point higher than the 3 percent increase that the board had originally planned to put in place at the end of this year. But MVWD General Manager Joe Davis explained to the board that unexpected cost spikes had caused staff to recommend a slightly higher increase than planned.
“We started looking at some of the inflation settings now with everything that has gone on with COVID and the difficulty we are having just to get materials and supplies,” Davis said.
Davis related that most pipe manufacturers are completely shut down and not taking any orders at all.
“Everybody is scrambling for supplies which means that the price for waterworks materials is going through the roof,” he said.
“Hopefully those numbers will come back down to pre-pandemic numbers soon,” Davis said. “But I would hate to see the compounding effect we have seen in the past when we get behind the eight ball on rates. I’d rather try and get out ahead of the curve and then take a close look at it again in July or August. And maybe we are able to have less of an increase in the next time around.”
Davis explained that the impact of the increase would be small to the average customer. A 3 percent increase would bring a $4.02 increase to an average residential water bill during the peak season of summer, Davis said. Setting the rate increase at 4 percent would raise the average summer water bill by $5.02, he said.
During the lower use winter months, the impact would be even lower. A 3 percent increase would raise the average monthly winter bill by $2.49. The 4 percent increase would raise it by $3.12 in winter.
Meter costs on a residential 3/4” meter would increase by $146 under a 4 percent increase. The hydrant meter use rate would go up from $61.88 to $64.36. The water resource fee would go up from $6,825 to $7,098 under the 4 percent increase.
Board members generally agreed with the approach.
“I hate to sound inevitable, but I just don’t see prices stabilizing anytime soon,” said MVWD Board member Lindsey Dalley. “I would love to be wrong about that. But I just don’t see it.”
Board member Kelby Robison expressed some concern that the proposed increase might not be enough to cover proposed salary and wage increases that had been discussed for the near future. He suggested that the increase be tabled for a month so that the board could consider these factors more closely.
But Davis said that a good portion of those salary and wage increases had already been factored into the 4 percent proposal.
Dalley made a motion to approve the 4 percent increase. The vote to accept the motion was unanimous.
