One of two tanks at the Joint Powers Board water treatment plant in Kemmerer. JPB operations manager Randy Townsend said the recent water and sewer rate increases were part of a 2014 resolution. (GAZETTE PHOTO / Theresa Davis)

The latest water and sewer rate increases for the communities of Kemmerer and Diamondville may have upset residents who think their bills are already too high, but the Joint Powers Board insists that the issue is more complex than the numbers on a water bill.

Randy Townsend is the Operations Manager for the Kemmerer-Diamondville Water and Wastewater Joint Powers Board. Townsend said the latest rate increases are part of a resolution passed by the Joint Powers Board (JPB) in 2014.

“It’s part of a multi-year plan for 2015-2019,” Townsend said. “A public hearing was held, and the cost of living increases and budget constraints influenced the rate increase each year.”

The latest increase will raise the base rates for water and sewer by 1.6 percent.

Townsend said the latest increase will be a minimum of $1.03 for most customers.

The rate increase last year was 1.5 percent, and the increase the year before that was 2.7 percent.

“The rate increase has a lot to do with state cost of living, but we spread the increases out over several years,” Townsend said. “Since 2015 we’ve seen only a 7.1 percent increase. I know it seems like a lot to customers, but I’ve been in communities that don’t plan ahead and instead do the increases all at once. We think this is a fair and economic way to distribute the increases.”

Townsend said in 2019 the Joint Powers Board can opt out of applying another increase, and it may even be several years before another rate increase is required.

The JPB operations manager knows it’s tempting for residents to compare their water and sewer bills with other communities.

“The rates between towns absolutely cannot be compared. It’s like apples and oranges,” Townsend said. “No two systems are the same. Source water and infrastructure needs are different.”

Townsend said rural communities always have higher water and sewer rates.

“That’s one thing people pay for when they want to get away from a bigger city,” Townsend said. “Larger municipalities get revenue from their tax base and have more people paying bills. Goods and supplies and repair parts are more expensive to get here.”

“Electric and gas companies raise rates, and (the public) doesn’t have any say about that, but when the JPB proposes a rate increase, we have a public hearing and people can come and voice their concerns,” Townsend said.

Townsend said Joint Powers Board secretary Jane Morton has been looking through comments on the community Facebook board about the rate increases, and has been trying to answer those questions as best she can.

The JPB holds board meetings on the second  Tuesday of every month.

“We invite people to attend those meetings, ask questions, and get answers,” Townsend said. “If we don’t have the answers right then, we’ll find them. I’m willing to talk, our office is open. I consider myself a public servant and the water customers are my bosses.”

Before moving to Kemmerer in October of 2017, Townsend worked for nearly 30 years as a chief operator and public works director for water managment systems in Tennessee, Wyoming and Colorado.

Townsend said his job is to oversee expenditures and funding as directed by the members of the Joint Powers Board, who must approve all expenditures.

“I’m a checks and balances kind of guy,” Townsend said.

Randy Townsend is the operations manager for the Kemmerer-Diamondville Joint Powers Board. He said he understands residents’ concerns about water and sewer rate increases, and encourages residents to attend Joint Powers Board meetings to learn about what the money pays for. (GAZETTE PHOTO / Theresa Davis)

The Joint Powers Board was created in 1992 to oversee and maintain the water and sewer services in the Kemmerer and Diamondville communities.

“The goal was to provide both cities with the same water services and rates,” Townsend said. “It’s all about equality.”

The JPB’s operating budget for fiscal year 2017-2018 is $1.8 million.

“That is operating costs only, and doesn’t include $3.4 million of capital projects,” Townsend said. “We have a few different fund types, but rate increases go to support operating costs only.”

Townsend addressed the depreciation fee of $15 or $20 that customers see on their monthly water and sewer bill.

“I don’t know where the idea came from that that would go away,” Townsend said. “Every January we have a $256,000 expenditure to pay for the new water treatment plant. We still have 20 years left on that 25 year plan.”

Townsend said the biggest chunk of the depreciation fee goes to pay for the water treatment plant, but also goes to an emergency fund.

“We don’t get tax revenue like municipalities because we are not affiliated with the city,” Townsend said.

When the Joint Powers Board applies for state grants to upgrade equipment or make updates in accordance with environmental standards, they are required by the grant organizations to have a certain amount of money in reserve accounts.

“It’s like if you go to the bank for a loan and you can’t back it up, you won’t get the money,” Townsend said. “The JPB must show sustainability in order to get money, and we’re doing what we need to do to sustain the Joint Powers Board for the future.”

Townsend said the JPB pays the city a yearly contract fee to handle billing operations, because the board doesn’t have the personnel, the office space or the software to handle billing.

“I think it’s a good setup what we have,” Townsend said. “We appreciate what the city does for us.”

“When we have to dig up a street to fix a pipe, a lot of money goes into paying to fix the street as well as the initial water pipe project,” Townsend said.

According to Facebook comments, one of the main reasons many residents are upset by the rate increases is they are already unsatisfied with the water quality in the community.

“I understand why people get concerned when prices go up,” Townsend said.

“But as far as concerns about water quality, we don’t know people’s concerns about water quality unless they come to us. Everyone is paying for clean, potable water and that’s what we should be giving them.”

Townsend said the Hams Fork River is a good source of water, but it does require more treatment than some other water sources he has worked with in the past.

“We have certain environmental requirements that require us to maintain the Hams Fork River quality as well as the Kemmerer Reservoir and Viva Naughton,” Townsend said. “The waste-water that we discharge back into the river must be cleaner than what we took out.”

Townsend said the JPB isn’t against the community at all — they are just trying to do their jobs.

“The group of individuals here all care about what they do,” Townsend said. “It’s the community that we live and work in, and we care about doing a good job.”

Townsend said the Joint Powers Board is already beginning the process of planning the budget for Fiscal Year 2018-2019, and the budget must include funds for operation costs, equipment replacement and emergency repair.

“My motto is have a backup for the backup — we should always have enough money for a rainy day, because when something breaks, it needs to be fixed yesterday,” Townsend said. “It’s a constant repair and replace process.”