City of Medicine Hat power line workers make a connection near the intersection of Dunmore Road and 22nd Street SE on Monday. City council heard Monday that the average utility bill could increase by a total of $4.75 per month in 2021, about half the increase initially projected and about half the monthly increase imposed in 2020.--NEWS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT
Bills for utility service would rise $4.75 per month for the average household in 2021, according to budget amendments outlined at Monday’s city council meeting.
The near 2.3 per cent increase is a little more than half the amount originally projected when budgets were passed two years ago, with the pullback attributed to a wage freeze and tighter capital spending.
A separate rate however – charged to gas and power customers and meant to bolster municipal revenue by extending property tax to city utility lines – will take up half the savings.
The municipal consent and access fee (MCAF) was first instituted in Medicine Hat two years ago, after a brokered agreement at council to phase in the charges and potentially eliminate them in 2023.
It recovers the cost from consumers of the utility company’s property tax bill payments to the municipal side of City Hall. In a presentation to council Monday, administrators were set to outline a goal of $3 million in new revenue.
That would require raising franchise fees charged by the utility by about 50 per cent, resulting in an increase of $2.40 per average residential account per month.
The total average monthly charge, about $7.03, is also higher than originally projected when councillors approved the MCAF on gas and power in mid-2018.
At the end of each year, utility officials provide a budget update and amendments to council regarding fee adjustments for the coming year.
In terms of service increases, the combined hike is led by increases to sewer ($2.55 per month on average), then power delivery ($1.28). Smaller amounts for water delivery ($0.47), solid waste pickup ($0.42) and gas delivery ($0.03) also affect the increase.
The projected increases in the two-year-old utility division’s business plan totalled $8.58. The monthly increase in 2020 was $10.41 per month.
In terms of general service fees, the rate increases arise from increasing operational costs and inflation, but the rate hike was lessened by lower capital spending and a wage freeze for certain employees and managers.
Most workers in environmental utilities (water, sewer, landfill) accepted a two-year wage freeze in the recently completed contract with the Canadian Union of Provincial Employees. Managers’ pay mimicked that settlement.
Workers at the power plant, water treatment plant and power line workers are represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, No. 254. That contract expired at the end of 2019.
