North Grenville Council is holding a Water Rate Discussion Forum on Wednesday, September 25, beginning at 6:30 pm at the Municipal Centre. This is part of a series of monthly Discussion Forums that North Grenville’s Municipal Council is convening to hear directly from residents on issues that affect them.
“These Discussions Forums are intended to be somewhat informal dialogues where Council seeks to be informed by the perspectives of a diversity of residents in our community, particularly when it comes to more contentious issues where residents have expressed some concerns, ” said Mayor Peckford.
Public Works staff will give a short presentation on how the water rates are calculated, followed by a conversation led by the Mayor, Councillor John Barclay, the Public Works Council liaison and the rest of Council.
“Many residents of North Grenville don’t realize that our water and waste water systems are now 100% funded through user fees and do not rely on Municipal taxes” said Councillor Barclay.
In 2017, North Grenville’s Public Works department engaged a consultant to review what the anticipated operating and capital costs may be for the systems through 2023. At that time, the Council adopted a 3-year consecutive rate increase of 5.5% per year until 2020.
Over the next few months, there will be a full review of this approach to determine how and if rates should increase again. To help shape this process, the Water Rate Discussion Forum is being held. Residents are encouraged to bring their most recent water bill with them for reference.
As a result of the water crisis in Walkerton, significant regulatory changes were made in Ontario concerning water and wastewater systems. One of the key pieces of legislation was the Safe Drinking Water Act and Ontario Regulation 453/07 – Financial Plans, which moved municipalities towards financial sustainability for water and wastewater services.
The Municipality charges a single combined charge for water and wastewater. This charge includes a minimum monthly base charge, differentiated by meter size, with an additional consumptive charge based on metered water consumption.
