Courtesy: Town of Peace River
Did you make our Utility Rates Open House on Monday?
About 40 people did, and it was a lively discussion. But we know there are more questions that still need answering, and plenty more of us in Facebook land who didn’t make the open house.
So, let’s chat.
Ask questions related to the proposed utility rate changes in the comments below, and we’ll answer the most-liked questions in a follow-up post.
Please keep questions related to the proposed utility rate change bylaw. We know there are interweaving considerations around the public safety survey, tax rates, and general economic conditions that are all part of a broader picture. But for the ease of getting good answers on utility rates, we will be focusing on questions directly related to that subject.
Included in this post is the original proposal for the utility rate changes from the Council meeting September 16, 2024.
Here’s a summary:
The Town is proposing to raise utility rates by approximately 10% per year from 2025-2029.
The point of this would be to achieve full cost recovery so that future infrastructure purchases aren’t purely reliant on debt financing, which is subject to the state of interest rates at the time.
The approximately 10% rate is based on an analysis by InterGroup, a firm the Town retained to produce a utility rate model.
Ultimately, the decision for raising rates, if at all, is in Council’s hands.
