Water rates for the Huntley Water and Sewer District residents were increased but more importantly than the amount of the rate increase was how long since the last water rate was changed.
Residents in the town of Huntley have not received a rate increase since June 1st of 1997. Yes, that’s right, it’s been 23 years since the last rate increase but TJ Mueller, President of the Huntley Water and Sewer District told the Yellowstone County News on Wednesday that cost have gone up since those days especially for supplies and chemicals. In fact, Mueller says the increase is “long overdue.”
The Huntley Water Board decided, after looking over their expenses, to address the issue in February and voted to make the change effective March 1, according to Mueller. He said, “there should be an increase every two or three years in trying to keep up with inflation” but that had not been the case since 1997. Now with the cost of chlorine and other chemicals along with normal operating expenses, the district needed to address the rate change.
Water users base rate went from $25 to $26 a month. The new rate for residential users is $2 per thousand gallons up 10,000 gallons and then changes to $4 per thousand gallons once over the 10,000-gallon amount. For commercial users, the first 7,000 gallons is charged at $2 per thousand gallons and anything over 7,000 gallons is now charged $3 per thousand gallons.
A typical family of 2-5 people, depending on usage of water, will expect to pay about $30-$32 dollars a month on their water bill.
