Following a considerable presentation during Thursday’s session for Hopkinsville’s Committee of the Whole, council members unanimously approved the consideration of a rate change request and municipal order from the Hopkinsville Water Environment Authority to the Christian County Water District.
It not only has to pass through local approval, but also through the Public Service Commission in Frankfort.
Daniel Lancaster, HWEA’s director of water, noted the last rate change came in 2010, and since, operational across-the-board costs for raw and finished water have seen major increases, including staffing, maintenance, electricity, and the chemicals needed for treatment.
Following a major rate study, Lancaster said it made sense to change the rates from three tiers to just two, and that a monthly meter charge of $30 per meter would cover annual meter testing.
The first tier, if approved, would go into effect July 1, 2025, and would be $5.80 per 1,000 gallons for the first 45,000 gallons. This would be a $1.85 increase. The second tier, if approved, would be $3.39 for every 1,000 gallons above 45,000. It would also go into effect July 1, 2025, and be an increase of 87 cents.
Then, on July 1, 2026, the second tier rate would increase again to $4.25 for 1,000 gallons after 45,000, an increase of 86 cents.
Currently, Lancaster added that HWEA has about 90 full-time employees and is considered the state’s eighth-largest municipal water utility in Kentucky with more than 16,000 customers and 2.78 billion gallons of clean drinking water produced last year.
These rate changes would not impact city residential or city commercial accounts.
Hopkinsville Fire Chief Steve Futrell confirmed that since the switch to 911 Billing Services from Madisonville, the department is on track for $2 million in revenue above expenses.
Furthermore, Futrell noted that the third quarter was extremely busy for he and his staff. Of the 1,000-plus runs for fire, the majority of them were emergency medical calls. Eight residential fires garnered response, and there were more than 3,000 EMS calls for service.
And thankfully, he added that the hybrid paramedic program will be underway in January.
Council members also accepted a recommendation from the city’s Chief Financial Officer Melissa Clayton, and unanimously moved along a motion asking for the $436,003 remaining in FEMA grant funds be used for Pardue Lane Park.
