City of Rock Hill responds to York County regarding water and sewer rates
In a press release sent to WRHI, the City of Rock Hill responds to the County regarding yesterdays release talking about potential increases in water and sewer rates
Full Release
The City of Rock Hill serves as the wholesale water and sewer provider for greater York County. Over the past few years, we have worked to increase the capacity of our water and sewer treatment plants to meet the growing needs of our region while ensuring safe, reliable drinking water for our customers.
The existing wholesale agreement with York County requires that the City provide 120-day notice of any anticipated rate changes prior to the budget consideration. As we refine our projections for the upcoming year, a projected rate increase was provided to York County in accordance with our agreement. Any updates to these rates over the next few months will be communicated to the County under the terms of the existing agreement.
The City has a history of providing high quality utilities at reasonable rates and has designed a rate structure that protects our customers from steep rate increases. In fact, our water rates are among the lowest in the region when compared to 28 other providers. While the percentages presented by the County appear high, the dollar values involved are actually very small. Over the 9 years reported in the letter from York County the water rates increase by a total of only $1.14 per 1,000 gallons. In other words, these increases amount to about a dime a year per 1,000 gallons.
The development of an effective rate structure can often insulate customers from significant rate increases. Under the City’s rate structure, these water rate increases for our customers over the same period increased only about a third as much as the York County rates (per 1,000 gallons). As the County reviews its rates and rate structure, the City stands willing to assist York County in developing a rate structure for the County that will help protect the County’s customers from the rate increases identified in the County’s letter.
