MILLIGAN — A Jan. 1 price increase nearly doubled the base rate of Katie Tomlinson’s monthly Milligan Water Service bill to $34.
She's not happy.
Nor, the retiree says, are her neighbors, few of whom were notified of a rate increase until it showed up on their January bills.
Tomlinson said she asked Milligan Water System President Martin Ellis why customers weren’t notified, and was told the utility emailed the rate increase notification and posted a notice in the window of its 5340 Highway 4 office.
“I said, ‘We’re a bunch of old people and widows. We don’t have Internet … (and) who’s going to drive all the way up there to see it?” she said.
Notice of the increase was also posted on the utility’s Facebook page, Milligan Water General Manager Lisa Fredericksen said.
DECREASE DEBT
A rate increase was necessary to decrease debt — which grew as the utility replaced aging lines along State Road 4, and will continue as it replaces those along U.S. Highway 90 — Fredericksen said.
In addition, the utility incurred several unforeseen expenses for equipment failures and damage — some caused by lightning strikes — and the need to repair damaged lines.
Milligan Water implemented the rate increase after the Florida Rural Water Association audited its finances, Fredericksen said.
“We’re a not-for-profit,” she said. “We hated to go up on the rates. But "Rural Water … said the only way we can recover our debt is a rate increase.”
VULNERABLE SYSTEMS
Auburn Water System General Manager Doug Sims said smaller utilities — such as the Milligan, Baker, Blackman and Holt systems — are vulnerable to the effects of unforeseen expenses.
“That’s one of the problems the smaller systems have,” Sims said. “If they have to borrow money, they can’t get it at the same rates the larger systems can. If you have more customers, you can get a bigger monthly income and pay down that debt.”
That brings little comfort to Tomlinson, who said she must carefully manage a fixed income.
“It’s sad, but I guess it’s just one of those things,” she said. “I don’t get upset very often, but when they start messing with my money, I get mad. I’m just barely making it as it is.”
RURAL WATER RATES
North Okaloosa County’s rural water systems — those outside of Crestview and Laurel Hill’s municipal services — have varying rates.
Here are some monthly base residential rates, which include up to 3,000 gallons of water before additional per-thousand-gallon rates are incurred:
Auburn Water System:$19.37 (3/4-inch pipe) or $25.57 (1-inch pipe)
Baker Water System:$14
Milligan Water System:$34
Okaloosa County Water: $9.83 (5/8 and ¾-inch pipes), $19.25 (1-inch pipe) and $35.06 (1.5-inch pipe)
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Milligan Water System doubles base rate to pay down debt