SHELTON — City rates for water and sewer service will remain the same during 2017.
The utility rate freeze was the result of a 2-1 vote of the Shelton city commissioners Monday night.
Mayor Gary Cronce and Commissioner Kathy McDowell supported keeping rates the same for a year, while Commissioner Tracy Moore was opposed.
The issue came up after City Manager Ryan Wheaton asked the commissioners for guidance during a recent work session.
Referring to the city’s debt, Moore argued that it was “not raising rates that got us into this difficulty.”
“I am really, really hesitant to put off the rate increases,” Moore said. “The responsible and the unpopular thing is to continue with little increases.”
Cronce said the recession has left income flat for many residents while city utility rates continue to climb incrementally.
Cronce said he felt there was a need to “hit the pause button and let the rates not change for a year.”
He and McDowell early this year supported reducing building and development fees, which resulted in construction growth over this year.
Moore said she wanted to see actual numbers before any action was taken to hold rates for city services.
Proposed water rate increase for 2017 would have generated $74,000 from water and $234,000 from sewer service, city figures show.
With additional revenue from utility taxes the total revenue generated would in 2017 would be $82,606 from water and $216,214 from sewer services, figures show.
