Indications are likely that Southwest Water Authority customers of are going to see an increase in water usage fees next year after the Southwest Water Authority Board of Commissioners were briefed Monday on preliminary options for a 2014 budget during its regular monthly meeting.
Though no decisions were made on an overall budget, the board was presented with three different budget proposals, after which it decided collectively to have a fourth option brought to the table at its November meeting.
Of the three budget options presented Monday, the percent increase in usage fees for customers using 6,000 gallons of water per month -- the average number of gallons used per customer -- ranged from just more than 1 percent to nearly 14 percent.
In a separate move, board members attending the meeting voted unanimously to go along with Southwest Water CEO Mary Massad's recommendation to raise the authority's replacement and extraordinary maintenance rate month fee from 40 cents to 50 cents per thousand gallons of water sold.
