9-7-17 campbellsport water rate hike

Campbellsport residents are going to have to dig deeper in their pockets to  pay for water.  The state Public Service Commission this week authorized a 22 percent water rate increase effective September 22^nd.  Public Works director Mark Gruber says an average residential customer will see their water bill increase $25 a quarter from $115 to $140.  Gruber says the increase will allow the Campbellsport Water Utility to begin repaying $1 million owed  the village dating back decades.  “Debt was incurred all the way back from the 70s and 80s.  General obligation…some of that was being borrowed to the water utility to offset some costs.  Rather than raising rates they were doing it that way,”  Gruber told WFDL news.  “I’m not here to say it was good or bad, its what we were given through the years and now its time that the Public Service wants it paid back.”   More than $400,000 was loaned to the utility to make up for lost revenue from leaky water mains and hydrants, which cannot be billed to customers.  The new rates are expected to increase annual revenue by more than $135,000.