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Berwick looks at raising utility rates

BERWICK — The Berwick Town Council took a step Tuesday toward making municipal utility service financially self-supporting. That step would cost gas and water customers more on their monthly bills.
Also Tuesday, the council set property tax rates for this year, approved an increase in the residential trash pickup rate and agreed to let the Brown House be used to store historical documents.
Rates for water, sewer service and natural gas would go up under a bill introduced Tuesday. The new rates could be approved as early as the council’s June 12 meeting.
The new water rates would be $15 for the first 2,000 gallons and $5.50 for each subsequent 1,000 gallons “or fraction thereof” for households inside the town limits. Customers outside Berwick would pay $17 for the first 1,000 gallons and $5.65 for each subsequent 1,000 gallons.
The meter deposits would be $200 for ¾- to 1-inch, $200 for 1½-inch and $400 for 2-inch or larger.
Inside Berwick, natural gas would cost $10 for the first 200 cubic feet each month, plus $1.50 for each 100 cubic feet after that. Outside the town, the first 200 cubic feet would cost $12. The charge would be $1.60 for each 100 cubic feet after the minimum.
Council members said they didn’t want to raise rates.
“It’s going to be a hard hit for some people,” said member Damon Robison.
But auditor Gerald Thibodeaux warned the council last month that the gas and water systems took in $200,000 less from customers last year than it cost to operate the system. That trend of requiring general fund money to be used to make up for a shortfall started in 2012.
Council members and Mayor Louis Ratcliff also talked about aging, sometimes leaky water lines and increasingly strict regulations.
Also Tuesday:
—The council unanimously approved property tax rates of 12.12 mills for the general operations of the town government and 6 mills for recreation facilities, roads and public facilities.
The rates are unchanged from last year. Together, the 18.12 mills in tax would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $181.20 per year.
—The council increased the charge for residential trash pickup to $18 per household per month from the current $15.77.
—The council approved the continuation of the $25-per-acre drainage fee on property in the town.
—The council agreed to let the Historical Committee use the Brown House, which had been donated to the town government, for committee meetings, to store town archives and to display historical photos.
Dale Fangue made the request on behalf of the committee “to preserve, document, and establish a physical property for the sole purpose of recording and promoting the history of Berwick.”
He said the house could also be used to display artifacts donated to the committee and as a place for educational visits and could become a Museum for Berwick History.

ST. MARY NOW

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