Flash from the Past
Propaganda provided by TMLWP from March 6, 2013
ARTICLE 6: LIGHT AND WATER CITIZEN
PETITION
Templeton Special Town Meeting on March 6, 2013
Templeton Special Town Meeting on March 6, 2013
WATER DEPARTMENT
Chapter 93 Acts of
2000: The Light Department initiated and was actively involved in a citizen
petition
to enact Chapter 93 Acts of 2000 in order to take control of the water department away from the Board
of Selectmen. (which the citizens then voted for by a 230-83 margin on September 11, 2000)
to enact Chapter 93 Acts of 2000 in order to take control of the water department away from the Board
of Selectmen. (which the citizens then voted for by a 230-83 margin on September 11, 2000)
Chapter 93 Acts of
2000 resulted in:
Increase in salaries (all town salaries have increased since
2000)
Increase in pension and OPEB costs (TMLWP plans
on funding OPEB costs, town does not)
Increase in management positions (no new manager was hired, superintendent was replaced)
Increase in long-term debt (to pay for $3.8M Bond which town voted for in 1999)
Increase in management positions (no new manager was hired, superintendent was replaced)
Increase in long-term debt (to pay for $3.8M Bond which town voted for in 1999)
And so they raised the rates to
cover these expenses.
Water Main Breaks,
July 2012: On Saturday, July 14, 2012 multiple (10-12) (6-8) water main
breaks
occurred in Baldwinville. What steps have been taken to ensure there will not be another incident like
the multiple water main breaks on July 14, 2012? (As part of the Baldwinville Road Reconstruction
Project, the TMLWP is having the Baldwinville/Maple intersection area of water main replaced with 12" to
reduce pressure) Where is the report regarding these water main breaks as requested by the Board of
Selectmen? (report and analysis was submitted to Christopher Stewart on August 27, 2012)
occurred in Baldwinville. What steps have been taken to ensure there will not be another incident like
the multiple water main breaks on July 14, 2012? (As part of the Baldwinville Road Reconstruction
Project, the TMLWP is having the Baldwinville/Maple intersection area of water main replaced with 12" to
reduce pressure) Where is the report regarding these water main breaks as requested by the Board of
Selectmen? (report and analysis was submitted to Christopher Stewart on August 27, 2012)
And so they will raise the rates
to cover this expense as well. (No, they wont and what expense?)
Long-Term Debt: Once Chapter
93 Acts of 2000 was enacted, the water department began a number
of capital improvements to the water system. In order to pay for these much-needed improvements, the
water department took out a 40 year USDA loan (Sound familiar? Same as the 252 Baldwinville Road
project) which will expire in 2045. (one has nothing to do with the other) Many of the capital
improvements DO NOT have a useful life of 40 years. (Actually, the majority of the water infrastructure
had been in place and operating for over 50 years until improvements began in 2000; the ductile iron
pipe installed for these improvements lasts 40 years minimum) This situation will create a cycle of per
perpetual (never-ending?) debt for the water department. ($332K Bond done FY45, not perpetual; the
$3.8M Bond, the $2.3M Bond and the $332K Bond were all voted for by the citizens at town meetings)
of capital improvements to the water system. In order to pay for these much-needed improvements, the
water department took out a 40 year USDA loan (Sound familiar? Same as the 252 Baldwinville Road
project) which will expire in 2045. (one has nothing to do with the other) Many of the capital
improvements DO NOT have a useful life of 40 years. (Actually, the majority of the water infrastructure
had been in place and operating for over 50 years until improvements began in 2000; the ductile iron
pipe installed for these improvements lasts 40 years minimum) This situation will create a cycle of per
perpetual (never-ending?) debt for the water department. ($332K Bond done FY45, not perpetual; the
$3.8M Bond, the $2.3M Bond and the $332K Bond were all voted for by the citizens at town meetings)
And so they raised rates to cover
these expenses. (in FY12 water customers paid 18¢ per 1,000 Gal
for
this bond)
this bond)
For too many years the Templeton MUNICIPAL Light and Water
department has operated like a separate
government (which it is) accountable to no one (accountable to the people by an elected board of
Commissioners, same as the Selectmen). The time has come to shed some light on their operations. It
is time to demand accountability. (an audit is performed annually for both the Light and Water
Departments; the results are published in the annual town report)
government (which it is) accountable to no one (accountable to the people by an elected board of
Commissioners, same as the Selectmen). The time has come to shed some light on their operations. It
is time to demand accountability. (an audit is performed annually for both the Light and Water
Departments; the results are published in the annual town report)
Don't forget we told you so. Now after time has gone by would you vote the same or would you listen to the people at town meetings who stand up against this obtuse department management.
ReplyDeleteTown meeting to vote for tank known to be needed 3 years ago being paid for by you and i with higher water rates.
I guess we will need to say it again and again!
"And so they will raise the rates to cover this expense as well."
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at your latest water bill.
ReplyDelete$59.29 for a quarterly "service charge" .
A total of $237.16 per year - not for water, but for "service"?
That is insane!
And so they will rise your rates to pay for this too!
ReplyDeleteRetirement cost increases,expanded work force,OPEB AND more not listed yet.
The General manager isn't sure what the retire account will need to have for money he admits accounting is not a strong point for him. He said he doesn't understand why the Worcester county retirement cost has increased. He said he would have someone come to a meeting and explain it to the commissioners. I can understand it!
Isn't the customer charge applied to water used? Similar to the customer charge on electric bills?
ReplyDelete2 part bills
ReplyDelete1 is for service and i bet they would like to put on a 3rd customer charge.
2 is for gallons used the more you use the higher the rate per gallon.
with 2200 customers @ 237.16 each per year income from service charges= 521,752.00
My first request for all light bills would be to lower the customer charge to 2.00 from 3.00 as a commissioner i would look out for the customers first and treat all questions as the most important part of being a commissioner. Past questions of legality of the way things go there would be for the commission to work on and abide by as soon as possible.
Dave - I have a detached garage. I get a separate bill. customer charge is $6 per month. Some months, I don't use 6 bucks worth of electricity. The bill is still 6 bucks. That is just the minimum charge. It is NOT a charge in addition to the cost of electricity. If I use $12 worth of electricity, I pay $12. If I use $6.01 of electricity, I pay only $6.01.
ReplyDeleteI would be surprised if your water bill were different. Check your bill.
You make it sound as if the customer charge is over and above the electricity that you use. The meter on my garage, the shared cost of the service, it's got to be paid somehow. Thus the $6 customer charge. If I use less than $6 in kWh, my bill is $6. I suspect a similar situation for water may exist.
Water bills are not the same calculation. For used amount there are amounts and when you have water use discontinued/shut off for the winter if you go south that is the only time the charge gets dropped.
ReplyDeleteThe 6 dollar charge was the only rate the Light dept left that way. There were no votes to gain when they lowered the rate for all others. Mark you are 1/2 correct.
Thank you for pointing it out.
Are you disagreeing that for light bills, the customer charge being $4 or $3 only matters if you use less than $4 of electricity?
ReplyDeleteOn the bills for water it states it is a service charge. You pay this amount no mater what. Only if you have them come shut it off and charge you a fee to turn it back on.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the south road customer they will need to pay for 1/2 the cellar full of water after they had their service turned back on. The water department paid a total of 8,000.00 in clean up expenses to the home owner. Why would they turn the water on and just leave never checking the pipe at the meter they hooked up for any leaks?
That's 8,000.00 of water customers rate/service charges gone !
No service charge or customer charges on sewer bills. There are 2.00 per meter reading for the sewer department charged to the sewer enterprise by the water dept.
The amount paid to sewer is what the department has for customer revenue.
Camps who only have 1 meter reading after the winter season pay the 3$ customer charge on 1 bill X 6 months. I have a copy of the General managers breakdown of what the customer charges are used for. One problem i had with the customer charges on the bill was the meter reader is not needed full time and mows the grass for the water department in the summer. As the light department charges the water department for many things they do for the water in the office the grass isn't one of them. WHY?
When i add up my bill and the end result is a total with the 3.00 i get the feeling my house customer charge is 3.00 above the use and doesn't go away.
Your 6.00 charge must be added differently compared to the house main meter is.
If you use 6.01 worth of power and have a 6 dollar customer charge that cost for the meter would be on the backs of the people who pay their customer charges and i find it
is not for the rest of us to pay for your needs. Another point is for the cost of the street light anyone may have for private use are only 5.00 per month and at a meeting the cost to power them has been said to be higher then charges for them to those who have them.
You point out how the regular customers have been subsidizing private street lights and extra meters like yours is free up to 6.00 worth a month.
If a new LED fixture for 400.+ installation is put up for 5.00 a month how do we need to pay 3.00 for a customer charge when they loose money on every one they hook up?
Sorry if i made it sound like it was on top of the bill/use but on my bill it is!
I find also the service charge on water never goes away.
People who have wells are not under any cost unlike the light monopoly it's them or the generator. Soon we will have a option for solar with battery backups that will power us for days without any grid help cost effective enough to purchase by the lower middle class. We could have lower electric bills if we only had customers like you point out pay their fair share for the amounts you used.I'll drop off a sign if you want one for your front lawn Mark.
VOTE
Dave Smart for TMLWP commission
Dave - My garage is under commercial rates, which I was surprised when they told me. The reason being because I don't live there. The commercial rates for electricity are higher than residential rates. So before you go off on a great crusade against those of us who have detached garages, you may want to look at the difference per kWh in the rates. For February, I paid $.231 per kWh for the garage, and $.145 per kWh for the house. There is no PASNY credit on the C3 (commercial) bills.
DeleteAlso, when they installed the meter, I paid TMLP for all the materials and labor they used. They did a good job, I am very pleased. No free ride for anything. The cost of the meter is on the bill. 1 Centron CL200 FM 2S revenue meter. The meter socket, mast are the responsibility of the homeowner, and were installed by a licensed electrician.
The C3 rate says the minimum charge is the customer charge. So when the usage is very low, say 1 kWh per day, That is what your bill is, $6. As you can see, it still works out to be a higher rate than the residential rate. You're not, as you claim above, "paying for my needs".
Yes
ReplyDeleteMy bad if so but we were told at a TMLWP meeting part of the "customer" charge was to pay for meters. Your 6.00 "service" charge must be added differently compared to the house main meter is.
ReplyDeleteIf you use 6.01 worth of power and have a 6 dollar customer service charge that cost for the meter would be on the backs of the people who pay their customer charges and i find it is not for the rest of us to pay for needs like private street lights.
They should still call it a minimum charge and that would be the correct way to describe it.
The customer charge use to be a minimum charge and in 2009 they figured we were all asleep and changed it to a customer charge and with 3600 customers that's 170,000.00 was put in the income column and have money to spend above and beyond the 8% income cap for sales. Add that to the other income they have like projects at the Ferncol state property and the solar farm upgrades and if we could see the budget we could only dream of what the town could do with the extra. So i guess the breakdown of the customer charge is a little miss leading Driscoll gave to me. No crusade to go on Mark and i would have done my homework but you were the one who stated it was a customer charge. I would be correct about the extra 3.00 we all pay above and beyond the use.
Look at your regular bill and see how it get put in on top of the amounts used for all regular customers. I would bet you don't get the 10% off if paid in 10 days on the service charge on the detached garage.
VOTE
Dave Smart for TMLWP commission
You could look up the rate schedule. No discounts on the commercial rates for paying by a certain date. It is a customer charge, on the bill that is what it says. Same name as the charge on my regular bill for the house. It's plain to see on my C3 bill, I asked if it were the same for the water. I don't get a water bill so I don't know.
DeleteThat customer charge on the water bill is paying for water. It has to be, because the cost per gallon for the rest of the bill would be too low to cover the costs of pumping it etc.
When I moved to Templeton 30+ years ago, I wanted a well and that is what I have. Private septic also. I paid for the installation and pay for the maintenance. Just like Water customers must do. One difference, if I need to do maintenance on my well or septic system, it's paid by me. When the water system needs maintenance, or the sewer, all of Templeton is responsible. Not just the folks who have those services.
Think of it this way Dave - if my garage were connected to my house, I would pay only the $3 customer charge, and would also pay cheaper rates. Commercial rates are not being subsidized by you.
As for the private lights, I have a theory about those. Some sources of electricity do not consume fossil fuel. Nuclear, hydro, solar. Nuclear and hydro are available 24/7. There is not much demand for electricity at night, which is when the private lights are on. Electricity at night costs much less than during peak hours. Give the light company a little credit, they're trying to get something for a commodity that they pay for whether or not they use it. It's a good deal, you should get one.
When the water system needs maintenance, or the sewer, all of Templeton is responsible. Not just the folks who have those services.
ReplyDeleteI was just asked buy the chairman of the sewer commission if i thought it would be better for a rate increase or another betterment lien on the houses.
It would be to pay for the replacement of the pleasant street pump station and the upgrade for the East Templeton portion of Gardner Sewer plant needed. When the Mill on Mill street closed the money came from the rate payers again to upgrade the plant to just sewer use. Betterment liens for that also only for users. Not the whole town only the users. I agree the whole town pays in through the tax base on all services but not any where near what the users have to. The cost for the betterment removal is 75.00 when you pay it off. Water department pumps the tanks to the top every night to use the power that's cheaper off peak time. Hydrants protect us all and should have some costs to the tax base as a whole.