Daniel Prince
Study concludes Carlisle needs to charge $130 or more for water and sewer
The bulk of last Tuesday’s Union City Council meeting was given over to Clay Helms with KCI Technologies to present the results of the Carlisle-Lockhart Regional Feasibility Study. Helms said the need for the study came from the SC Rural Infrastructure Authority. They made such a study a condition of grant funding that was awarded to the Town of Carlisle for the Carlisle-Union Regional Sewer Extension project and to the Town of Lockhart for an emergency grant to replace the sewer line to the Lockhart School. Together, over the past 10 years, the towns have received nearly $10.7 million in grants from the RIA, the State Revolving Fund, and Community Development Block Grants. Helms said that RIA is making regionalization of town utility systems a priority.
The goal of the study was to determine the viability of each town’s water and sewer systems, defined as having the financial and practical ability to operate and maintain infrastructure; providing funding needed to make necessary improvements; providing reliable service to its customers for the foreseeable future; and having the staff and personnel required to operate and maintain the systems.
In the Town of Carlisle, the study found 225 active water connections and 175 active sewer connections. The average utility bill in Carlisle for 3000 gallons of water and sewer usage is approximately $35, compared to $73.55 for the City of Union and $94.32 for the Town of Lockhart. The town’s average monthly cost to purchase water is around $3660, and the town brings in $4050 in water revenue. Once the sewer project is complete, the town will be paying over $10,300 a month for wastewater treatment services. The study indicated that a “break-even” combined water and sewer rate based on 3000 gallons of water and sewer usage would be approximately $80. The town has proposed raising its rates starting in July 2023 to $79.25 per customer for water and sewer, which would increase to $83.30 in July 2024 and $87.65 in July 2025. The town would make just over $1050 in net revenue starting in 2025-2026 after losing money the first two years. However, the funding agencies want towns to keep at least $50,000 on hand for grant matches or fees and another $50,000 on hand for emergency repairs. The study indicated that to pay all utility costs and to generate additional revenue for operations and maintenance, the town may need to increase rates to between $130-$150 or possibly even higher for 3000 gallons of usage. They say that level of rate increase does not seem to be feasible based on the average income levels in the town.
The other alternative would be for the Town of Carlisle to partner with the City of Union and Union County to provide operation and maintenance of the town’s water and sewer systems. Partnership with the county would be essential to this process, as the burden of ownership of the system would go to the city with little to no benefit to the city. Another study would need to be done to ensure the town could viably operate from General Fund revenues without the additional utility revenues.
The feasibility study concluded that the Town of Carlisle will be unable to continue viable operation of its utility system in the immediate future and that the most feasible alternative would be to partner with the city and county to operate and maintain the systems.
We will look at the study’s conclusions for the Town of Lockhart in tomorrow’s news.