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Wednesday, September 17, 2008 City readies for rate increasesIncreased costs prompting planned utility rate hikes The City of Socorro is one step closer to raising water, wastewater and residential trash rates starting Nov. 1. At the City Council meeting Monday, Sept. 15, at City Hall, the council approved publication of the ordinance increasing the prices. The city must hold a public hearing on the matter, and it will take another six to eight weeks before the ordinance could pass, Mayor Ravi Bhasker said Tuesday. The city is raising fees to compensate for increased expenses due to federal arsenic limits for drinking water and the state permit process for landfills. It must decrease arsenic levels in two wells and meet certain requirements for operating a landfill. According to the ordinance, in November, monthly residential trash rates will increase to $12.75 for the first bin and $6 for each additional bin. For water, rates are increasing to about 20 cents per 100 gallons for residential, commercial and industrial users. Fees for 100 gallons of wastewater serviced are increasing to about 24 cents for residential users, 27 cents for commercial users and 35 cents for industrial users, according to the ordinance. Beginning July 1, 2009, the trash rate is to go up another dollar for the first container, while the water and wastewater fees will see a raise of another penny per unit. The rates will increase again by the same amounts on July 1, 2010. Additional garbage containers would still cost $6. The council could pass a resolution to reduce or eliminate those rates on the second or third increase, but they must do so by the day before fees go up. In other business:
"It's just a draft," said City Clerk Pat Salome. The draft is public record, but it is not up for adoption at this time.
"It's a public space; it's a public place," he said. However, Bhasker continued, if people are drunk and causing problems, officers need to ask them to leave, take them home or arrest them. He doesn't want people in jail since city must then pay for them. Romero said the Plaza had seen an increase in drunken people this summer.
Socorro County Chamber of Commerce Director Terry Tadano said Ezell had to close because people were using less expensive businesses due to economic conditions.
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