Kermit emergency ordinance amends rising water rates

Water rates in Kermit, Texas, have doubled, even tripled in some areas, fanning the ire of residents.

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In response, city management is taking steps to alleviate the situation by passing an emergency ordinance that would amend the current water rates. The city council will soon be passing a newly proposed water rate amending ordinance, and will also decide whether or not the city government will compensate affected residents for November’s bill.

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Majority of the residents in Kermit are breathing a sigh of relief after weeks of frustration over the increases in water rates, with bills going up as high as a hundred dollars more than usual. "It's had the whole town torn up, it really has, but now I think they've resolved it," said Rodney Hayes, owner of Mary’s Flowers in Kermit, in an interview with CBS 7 News. The business owner’s last three bills jumped hundreds of dollars each. “I feel relieved that the council did an excellent job for us there.”

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City Manager Gloria Saenz announced that the city will soon be repealing the current water and sewer rate ordinance, and will be rebasing rates in the following rate scheme: The $17 rate will be dropped down to a $13 rate, making it just a dollar higher than the original rate, before the ordinance was passed. Any amount of water over 5,001 gallons will be charged a flat rate of $2.60 per 1,000 gallons. Sewer rates will have a flat rate of $13.

However, some residents, such as Donna Paehl, whose November water bill doubled, are worried about the bigger picture. "My concern is what are they going to do to compensate those people from a huge bill and especially right now with the holidays, people need their money,” she said.

Pete Kampfer is an experienced city manager who has done over ten years of government work. Visit the Twitter page for more news about Kermit City Management.