GLOVERSVILLE – The Gloversville Board of Water Commissioners will raise the water rates by 2 percent, effective June 1.
This will be the first rate increase in four years, a news release said. The last increase was on June 1, 2009, when the board increased rates by 3 percent.
The new rate will see the cost of 100 cubic feet of water – which amounts to 750 gallons of water – increase from $3 to $3.06 for city residents.
Customers outside the city will continue to see their bill at two and a half times the city rate. The new rate will affect only the water portion of the water/sewer bill.
Water Department Superintendent Christopher Satterlee said the average residential water customer who pays $200 for water every six months should see their bill increase by $4.
“With water consumption down and costs continually going up, the board felt that they had to impose a modest increase, while also understanding the economic hardships our customers are facing,” Satterlee said in the release.
The water board remains focused on updating the filtration plant, which was built in 1939, by replacing old faulty valves inside the plant. A new heating system also was recently installed.
This year the rehabilitation of two of the six filter beds will begin. Two more will be rehabilitated in 2014, with the final two done in 2015.
“We want to continue to maintain our high quality of water and at the same time do it efficiently as possible to keep the costs down” Satterlee said in the release.
Last year, the changeover to Radio Read meter registers began. This is expected to take three years to complete the task of replacing all 6,200 meter registers in the city, the release said.
