Additional Facts — and Perspective — About the Water Rate Increase

The South Milwaukee Water Utility has prepared a letter to residents who have questions and concerns about the 52 percent rate increase it is seeking with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.

Click here to see the document. From it:

If the PSC grants this increase, customers may see an increase of approximately $8.00 to $10.00 per month on their water bills. How the PSC arrives at applying the increase is to be determined, and the increase to individual customers will vary with water usage. …

It’s important to provide residents some background on how we got to this point. There are a number of reasons behind the rate increase, including:

• Mandated plant improvements;
• Declines in industrial water use; and
• Improved conservation efforts (low flow appliances, toilets, washing machines, shower heads) resulting in declining residential water use.

The plant upgrades were a significant contributor – but also a necessary one …

The down economy has only served to drive that increase higher. South Milwaukee began to feel the effects of the struggling economy just when the upgraded facilities were placed into operation, and we began to realize that many of our heavy water users (industry and manufacturing), as well as many smaller users, had cut back on water consumption. Today, water consumption is running approximately 20% less than projections. This, in turn, impacts Water Utility revenues.

The Water Utility is also encouraging residents who have questions, comments or concerns about the rate increase to call them at 768-8070.