Proposed water, sewer rate increase lowered in amended ordinance
Georgetown Municipal Water and Sewer Service lowers the proposed increase from 39% in year one to 19%
GEORGETOWN, Ky. (WTVQ) – More heated debate surrounding the proposed Georgetown city water and sewer rate increase, this time between city council members. However, the current mayor and council will not be the ones taking action on the item since there’s not enough time left for them to do so.
Monday night, people from Georgetown pack the Scott County Public Library for the discussion of the water and sewage rate increase from Georgetown Municipal Water and Sewer Service (GMWSS). GMWSS came with an amended proposal for the council, after hearing the cries of the public.
The water company says a rate increase has to happen but hopes the new alternative can make it “more palatable”. The amended proposal has rates increasing starting in March 2023 instead of January and rates would only increase by 19% instead of 39%. However, this 19% increase would remain the same for three years instead of declining yearly. GMWSS says the overall increase wouldn’t change but the new proposal slows the rate down.
Even after hearing the new proposal, people in the community still question how the burden to pay the increase falls on them when they weren’t the ones who made the mistakes.
“I know 19% is less but I think you need to do something different,” says Joy Edwards, a concerned citizen. “People are emotionally, mentally, physically, and financially exhausted. Dumping the burden of the responsibility of someone else’s, in my opinion, negligence is not okay.”
Many in the community calling for a full audit of the water company to get a better picture of what went wrong. Two resolutions from the council were discussed in an executive session, one from Councilwoman Karen Tingle-Sames and the other from Mayor Tom Prather. The resolutions causing a heated discussion between council members.
“The community has lost trust in the decisions, direction and the future of the water company and I think you all would agree with that. If we don’t go into this audit and ask for this, the mayor is correct, they can turn us down and say ‘no, nothing there. Nothing there to see,” says Tingle-Sames.
“That resolution is a complete indictment of our own water company and our own water board before the examination is ever made. The other requests for the auditor’s presence in a more reasonable fashion that does not limit the scope,” says Prather.
After over an hour and a half in executive session, the Georgetown City Council voted to remove Tingle-Sames’ resolution.
“So, if we can put the language in there to have a broad scope then I will vote with the one the mayor proposed,” says Tingle-Sames. “But it cannot be just narrowed to the project only, it needs to be the ‘whereas anything else comes up and you see it while you’re in there, tell us about it’.”
Council voted to approve an amended resolution requesting a “special examination” from the state auditor’s office, expanding the request to include an investigation into anything found.
A link to watch the full city council meeting can be found HERE.
