Water Department will hold hearings on proposed rate increase
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Water Department will hold hearings on proposed rate increase
Jan Ransom
Changes to your water bill may soon be on the way and if you want to know more the city's Water Department will hold a series of public hearings. Check out the press release below:
Philadelphia, July 3, 2012 –The Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) recently announced its proposal to seek rate changes, beginning October 1, 2012 to maintain the City’s top-quality water, alleviate flooding, meet regulatory requirements and improve the quality of local rivers and streams. Even with the proposed additional rates, PWD’s water and sewer charges will continue to be among the lowest in the region.
Five public hearings have been scheduled to provide customers with an overview of PWD’s programs and services and an opportunity to comment and ask questions:
Monday, July 9, 2012, 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Philadelphia Senior Center
509 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
*There will be a Sign Language and Spanish interpreter present.
* This meeting will be streamed live at www.phillyCAM.org/PWDrates
Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Roxborough Memorial Hospital, Wolcoff Auditorium
5800 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19128
Thursday, July 12, 2012, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Holy Family University, Campus Center Conference Room 115
9801 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19114
Monday, July 16, 2012, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
YMCA North Philadelphia
Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19121 (Broad & Master Sts.)
*There will be a Spanish Interpreter present.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
White Rock Baptist Church
5240 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19139
“Water rates fund the day-to-day operation of our 6,000-mile water and sewer pipe network, pumping stations, water and wastewater treatment facilities. They support a host of programs that ensure that our product ranks among the top in the nation,” stated Deputy Finance Commissioner Joseph Clare. “They also ensure that the system will work for decades to come. The proposed new rates will allow PWD to meet all of our operating expenses and fund extensive capital improvements to protect the infrastructure and in turn, protect residents from flooding during increasingly intense rainstorms.”
The proposed changes to rates and total monthly bills over the four-year period are below. These increases represent an average of $4.10/month or about a 6.5 percent annual increase. The current FY12 total monthly average bill is $57.43.
Does this city know nothing other than raising taxes or fees?— 165Valley- The PWD has been in existence for decades. And just NOW they are trying to protect us from flooding? Is "new rates will allow PWD to meet all of our operating expenses" code for "cover employee pension and benefits via a rate increase"? At least PGW came out and said so when they had a rate increase...— dee99999
- You can only go to the well so many times (no pun intended). Milking 50 percent of the city's tax paying citizens population for the other 50 percent of freeloaders won't last. Keep adding tax after tax and you'll soon have another Camden.— dogman5
- More urban democrats have discovered they don't have to pay for utilities and taxes in philly. The burden falls on "them other people" that don't vote for us anyway.— shorekeeper
- nutty bagjob they do what they want to do the water dept has tons of money wasyed on appointees good ole mayor nutty— nelson van alden
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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