The Manitoba Public Utilities Board in conjunction with the City Of Flin Flon hosted a public meeting on the water rates in Flin Flon last night.
Shawn McCutchen opened the meeting on behalf of the Utilities Board and says they realized the importance of having this public forum after all the comments and feedback they received online.
Different members of the Public Utility Board made presentations and explained how they were able to come up figures and numbers for their findings.
The water rate study determined that the City Of Flin Flon has a working capital deficit of 8 million dollars. This was determined due to a significant increase in utility use, operating expenses and a decrease in revenue.
The study also found that there was a 22 % decrease on water consumption for people that had water mitres compared to people that did not have mitres. There was also an increase of 70 % for water consumption for a single person home compared to a multi family home. 87 % of the homes in Flin Flon are unmitred.
James Reitlo reported on behalf of the city that a lot of the costs are due to a distribution system that is heated to help the water lines not freeze up and a lot of the extra costs go to freeze protection. A lot of water lines are also built on rock and are hard to get to.
Warren Martin made a presentation to the city and challenged a lot of the findings in the study and wanted to know why a 73 %increase in over 4 years was necessary. He suggested the city submit a new rate increase more in line with other Manitoba municipalities.
Members of the public were given an opportunity to make comments and ask questions of the different personnel that were at the meeting and a lot of people got up and spoke and expressed their concerns on the effect that these increases would have on the community.
The increases put forward include a current monthly surcharge of $3.44 per month going up to $7.09 for 2025 and $9.43 for January of 2028. A current water rate of $7.09 up to $12.44 for 2025 and 16.00 by 2028. A current water waste rate of $5.03 up to $10.21 for 2025 and $13.52 by 2028.
The Public Utilities Board will now take the information and comments from the general public and the report from the city and make their final ruling heading into next year.
