TALLADEGA — City manager Mike Stampfler will be submitting his first budget to the City Council Monday night, along with three resolutions and a proposed five-year capital improvement plan. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.The second and third resolutions should not be controversial. The second is a commitment to maintain a balance of 8 to 10 percent of the total in the general fund at all times, as recommended by the city’s auditors. The third resolves that the council will commit 3 percent of the general fund to various “human service agencies” whose mission is to assist those in need.
The first of the three resolutions would tie base rates for water and sewer service to the Consumer Price Index.
“Our water and sewer infrastructure is in terrible shape,” Stampfler said. “The (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) is probably going to order us to do this at some point anyway, and that will mean something has gone wrong and we’ll also have to pay a fine.”
The resolution states that the base rate will be adjusted every Oct. 1, which marks the first day of a new fiscal year.
There has not been a water rate increase in Talladega since 2004, and the last one before that was sometime prior to 1996.
Stampfler also provided a graph showing the proposed changes and comparing Talladega’s current and proposed rates with surrounding cities and the county.
While the water rates in Oxford and Lincoln tend to be lower than Talladega’s, rates in Pell City, Sylacauga and the county are consistently higher. For instance, for a residential customer using less than 3,000 gallons of water per month, the bill in Oxford is $11 and the bill in Lincoln is $12.01. A Talladega resident would pay $12.81, where the same usage in Pell City, Sylacauga and Talladega County would cost $16.02, $16.70 and $19.50, respectively.
The proposal, according to a graph Stampfler provided, would not impact the residential customer using fewer than 3,000 gallons per month.
The residential rate based on 8,000 gallons monthly usage would increase slightly, from $26.81 currently to $27.66 under the proposal. Lincoln falls between the current Talladega figure and the proposed figure, and Oxford is the highest in this comparison, at $43.54.
Commercial rates for 3,000 gallons of water per month usage are lowest in Talladega County and Oxford, at $16.80 and $27.28, respectively, and Talladega’s is not much higher currently, at $27.50. Tying the base rate to the CPI would result in Talladega commercial customers paying an additional 60 cents per month.
The biggest jump under the proposal would be industrial customers at 8,000 per month, who would see a jump of 85 cents per month.
Stampfler also provided the council with a copy of a 2005 report showing several areas that are in imminent danger of failing. Several of these will be addressed in the Water Department budget, including a $300,000 inflow and infiltration improvement required by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
Other expenditures include $21,260 for on-line customer billing, $75,000 for mapping the water and sewer systems, a $4.5 million bond to cover a $6.5 million project for Alabama 77 and the bypass, $16,500 for replacement parts at the main sewer plant, and $196,375 for improvements at the surface water treatment plant.
The long-range improvement plan for the coming year includes renovation of all the city’s recreation centers and public works building, to the tune of $1 million each. Other projects involve playground equipment, golf course renovations, drainage in Veterans Park, renovating the unused city jail, new entry signs and other projects.
Private funding and grant money will probably be available for some of these projects.
Bike trail development, main street grant matches and brownfield cleanup projects are listed for future years.
