Penhold residents will soon see an increase of at least $4.75 per month onto their utility bill after council recently approved an increase in the base rate for water, sewer, and garbage collection.
Bylaw 641/08, or the Utility Services bylaw was amended to allow for an increase in the rates to help bring the utilities up closer to cost recovery, said Penhold CAO Rick Binnendyk.
The base rate for eight cubic metres of water/sewer and garbage collection has gone up from $40.25 per month to $45 per month. However, the exact dollar increase that will be reflected on residents’ bills will depend on their usage, said Binnendyk.
The bylaw has not been amended since 2008 which is one of the reasons it needed to be updated, said Penhold deputy mayor Kathy Sitter.
“Administration looked into what some other municipalities were charging and we didn’t want it to get to the point where we had to all of a sudden have a big increase,” said Sitter.
The motion to make the changes to the bylaw was passed with five councillors for and only councillor Sitter against. Penhold Mayor Dennis Cooper was not in attendance at the meeting.
The funds accumulated by the rate increase will generate an additional $43,548 for the town over a period of one year.
