Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Sewer Rates, One-Cent Sewer Tax Are Discussed

Questions were raised at Monday's Prescott City Council meeting concerning the one-cent sales tax being used to pay off bonds for a sewer project.

Prescott resident John Fontana asked the council during the meeting why residents were being double charged for the sewage system by paying the tax as well as the sewer rates which were increased during 1996.

Currently the city pays about $20,100 per month for the project - which is collected by sales tax revenue.

Operation and maintenance for the system is collected through the sewer rates customers pay.

Pollution Control and Ecology (PC&E) first tried to get the city to raise its sewer rates in 1995 because the city was funding the system's operations, which are $35,000 a month, through revenues generated in the electrical department.

The council put off PC&E for over a year before being told by a representative from the group that the rates could be raised by PC&E without action from the council.

One of the council members at the time, Jorge Nassar, told the council the rates should be reflected so the department could be supported by its revenues, and the council should lower its electrical rates as a reflection of the raised sewer rates.

The electrical rates have not been adjusted yet to reflect the increased cost in the sewage rate.

The council agreed to purchased a 12" diesel burning chipper for $15,900 from Henard Utility Products in Searcy.

The purchase price reflects a $3,000 trade-in on the city's current chipper.

A $34,705 bill for water line repairs at West First Street South was paid by the council.

4M Construction Company of Arkadelphia repaired the line from near the Prescott-Nevada County Depot to First United Pentecostal Church.

The line had to be replaced and bored under the road to the church's building.

The line had broken under pressure on at least two occasions before the repair.