Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 127, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 14, 2013 Page: 5 of 25
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Hondo Anvil Herald • Thursday, March 14, 2013 • 5A
RATES
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
With the loan, KSA plans to
repair and recoat what is known
as the ‘downtown elevated stor-
age tank’ (the Hondo water tow-
er) . A new EST will also be con-
structed at the proper height to
replace the insufficient height
tower, adjacent to the Medina
County Jail and Sheriff’s Office.
The Spatz Road GST, which is
near failure, will be demolished
and its functions replaced by
the rehabilitation of the golf
course GST.
“Right now, your water sys-
tem is running inefficiently
because you are having to
constantly run your pumps
to maintain pressure,” said
Cox. “With the new EST,
you won’t have to run those
pumps constantly to produce
the pressure you need.”
“This will all help in the
long term, (regarding) en-
ergy7 costs and maintenance,”
added Cox.
Mayor Jim Danner asked the
engineer for his opinion on how
much he thought the city could
save on waterline maintenance
costs after the proposed im-
provements are made.
“Just the equipment and la-
bor to repair one major water
leak is easily in the thousands
of dollars,” said Cox of the po-
tential savings of hundreds of
thousands of dollars a year.
“It is also a huge safety issue
when you’ve got active pres-
surized waterlines that are
leaking and you have to send
city crews to fix it and put a
hot tap on it. That is an ex-
tremely dangerous situation.”
“That was just the prelude to
get us to why we are going to
have to borrow this money,” said
Litchfield. “The TWDB approved
our loan on Jan. 31. The first
part of the loan (for $490,000)
is for planning, acquisition and
design. After that phase is com-
pleted, they will go back and ap-
prove the construction phase.”
If the council elects to move
forward with the total TWDB
loan and associated projects, it
would require an increase in wa-
ter rates of 25% this June, a 10%
increase in October 2014 and a
5% increase in October 2016, ac-
cording to the city manager.
“While 25% sounds like a
large amount, it is actually just
a $4.86 per month increase for
a water customer who is us-
ing the average 8,000 gallons
a month,” noted Litchfield.
“That means, if they are us-
ing the average 8,000 gallons,
their water bill would rise from
$19.44 to $24.30 a month.”
The sewer system is current-
ly underfunded, with the city
spending about $200,000 per
year more than it brings in as
revenues, so council will also
need to increase sewer service
rates by 25%, said Litchfield.
“That will increase the
monthly sewer bill for the
average 8,000 gallons from
$15.24 to $19.05, or by $3.81,”
he noted. “The combined av-
erage water and sewer bill is
currently $34.68 for 8,000 gal-
lons monthly usage. It would
rise to $43.35 for a total aver-
age increase of $8.67.”
With the $6,645 million
TWDB loan, the city would have
$55,000 per year in debt service
beginning in fiscal year 2013-
14 and an additional $355,000 a
year beginning in 2014-15, ac-
cording to Litchfield.
“We have a negative in our wa-
ter/wastewater fund,” he said.
“We hope at the end of the fis-
cal year (Sept. 30), we will be at
about a negative $164,000, based
on adopting rate increases for
the last four months of this fis-
cal year. The fund balance would
become positive (by Sept. 2014).
The trend would continue with 2%
increases for five years, until we
reach a 12% operating reserve.”
Reviewing the water, sewer
and property tax rates of area
cities, Litchfield noted his pro-
posal would provide for having
45 days worth, or 12%, of oper-
ating reserves in the water and
sewer funds. The comparison
cities were Uvalde, Lloresville,
Pearsall, Jourdanton, Bandera,
Pleasanton, Castroville, Seguin
and Devine.
“Water rates need to stand
on their own,” said the city
manager before reviewing a
Texas Municipal League sur-
vey of cost estimates from
surrounding cities for 5,000
gallons of monthly water use.
“Right now, our water
charge is $14.27 a month
based on 5,000 gallon usage,”
noted Litchfield of the city’s
rock bottom residential rates,
compared to the other cities.
“With the increase, we will go
to $17.84 a month. With the
10 cities we are comparing
ourselves against, we will go
from having the lowest rate
to the third lowest rate.”
“Same with residential
sewer rates,” he said. “We
currently have the second
lowest rate. We would have
the fourth lowest rate after a
$2.79 increase.”
The combined water and sew-
er monthly charge is currently
$25.43 and would increase to
$31.79, noted Litchfield.
“That would move us from
having the lowest to the
fourth lowest rates,” he said.
“But there is a significant dif-
ference between the fourth
lowest and fifth lowest rate
(of $45 a month in Bandera).
So we are still on the low end
for our cost of providing wa-
ter and sewer service.”
Litchfield noted Hondo’s
taxes on a $100,000 home
compared favorably to other
cities, with the lowest rate
city of Lloresville collecting
$26.48 a month on a similar
home. Hondo collects $34.08
on such a home with Uvalde
being the highest, collecting
$49.40 on a similar home.
“After the proposed increas-
es are implemented, the City of
Hondo’s total burden to a citi-
zen who uses the average 8,000
gallons of water, and owns a
$100,000 home would go from
$59.51 to $65.87 per month,”
he said. “It would be the sec-
ond lowest total of the cities in
the comparison group.”
“April 22 is when we actually
approve the sale of the certifi-
cates,” Litchfield told council.
“I’ll be requesting we approve
the rate increases at the same
time we approve the sale. May
22 would be the delivery date
of the certificates and the re-
lease of the proceeds.”
“What if the EAA comes
back next year and hits us
with another big increase
in their management fees?”
asked Place 2 Councilman
Sammy Nooner.
“This does not include any
increase in the portion of the
amount we are paying for the
EAA fee, nor for the fee that we
are collecting to purchase extra
water rights,” said Litchfield.
“The 25% increase wil l only be
applied against existing rates.
The Edwards Aquifer fee is
completely separate. If they do
have an increase, we will have
to come back to address that.”
“The presentation of water/
wastewater rates was not an ac-
tion item, so we are not able to
address the increase tonight,”
Mayor Danner told council.
Place 1 Councilman John
McAnelly offered a motion to
approve a resolution autho-
rizing the publication of the
Notice of Intention to issue the
COs complying with require-
ments contained in the Securi-
ties and Exchange Commission
Rule 18c2-12 and providing for
an effective date. The motion
passed 5-0 vote after receiving
a second from Nooner.
“I don’t think we have any
choice,” said Danner after
the meeting, of the need to
increase water and sewer
rates by 25%. “Even with the
planned increases, we still
have pretty low rates com-
pared to surrounding cities.”
Download free Tornado App to get ready
for rain, strong winds and possible tornados
The American Red Cross is
urges Texas residents to en-
sure households, schools and
businesses are prepared for
possible severe weather in-
cluding rain, strong winds and
possible tornados. Although
South Texas isn’t known for
being part of “Tornado Al-
ley,” just last year, the city of
Devine was hit by a tornado
that had a dramatic impact.
“Listen to weather alerts
and designate a safe space
where people can gather for
the duration of the storm,”
said Jack Pike, Regional Di-
rector of Disaster Services.
“The area should be an inte-
rior room on the lowest floor
away from windows, a base-
ment, or storm cellar.”
A free app, The American
Red Cross Tornado App, is
available in English or Span-
ish and gives iPhone, iPad
and Android smart phone
and tablet users instant ac-
cess to local and real-time in-
formation, so they know what
to do before, during and after
a tornado.
The app includes a high-
pitched siren and “Tornado
warning!” alert that signals
when a NOAA tornado warn-
ing has been issued. This
feature allows users to make
critical decisions and to take
actions to help keep them-
selves and their loved ones
safe, even in the middle of the
night. An “All clear!” alert lets
users know when a tornado
warning has expired or has
been cancelled.
Other features of the app
include:
• location-based NOAA tor-
nado, severe thunderstorm
and flood watches and warn-
ing alerts;
• one-touch “I’m safe”
messaging that allows users
to broadcast reassurance to
family and friends via social
media outlets that they are
out of harm’s way;
• preloaded content that
gives users instant access
to critical action steps, even
without mobile connectivity;
• toolkit with flashlight, strobe
light and audible alarm; and
• locations of open Red
Cross shelters.
“If a tornado is threat-
ening your area, listen for
alerts and warnings, grab
your emergency prepared-
ness kit and head to your
designated safe area,” Pike
added. “Be prepared to
evacuate if necessary.”
The Tornado App, along
with other apps, can be found
in the Apple App Store and
the Google Play Store for An-
droid by searching for Ameri-
can Red Cross or by visiting
redcross.org/mobileapps.
More safety tips can be found
at redcross.org/tornado.
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Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 127, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 14, 2013, newspaper, March 14, 2013; Hondo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth741361/m1/5/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hondo Public Library.