Town of Sheboygan water bills set to soar
Town officials are not in favor of the rate increase being forced by the state
TOWN OF SHEBOYGAN — Residents could be paying a lot more money to fill a glass of water due to a mandate from Wisconsin's utility regulatory agency.
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin forced the Town of Sheboygan to partake in a rate study to see if the town’s Sanitary District 3 is within the state regulator’s prescribed financial benchmarks. As a result, water rates for town residents and businesses will likely increase by the end of this year. The increase is necessary due to increases in plant investment and operating expenses according to documents filed with the commission.
“The Town of Sheboygan is not in favor of the rate increase,” said Town Chairman Dan Hein. “The town did not ask for any rate increase.” If the request is granted, the water bill for an average residential customer that uses 12,000 gallons of water per quarter will increase from $48.85 to $83.28, or 70.48%. Impacts to individual customer bills will vary depending on usage and the ultimate rates authorized by the commission. “They mandate it and we have no choice but to follow their rules,” said Hein.
A public hearing was scheduled for Thursday, June 5th. However, the hearing has been cancelled after The Sheboygan Press failed to publish the legally required PSC Rate Case Hearing Notice. A new public hearing date has not been set yet. “After the public hearing, there is a two-week comment period,” explained Director of Public Works Tom Holtan. “After that, Sanitary District 3 will have no more than 90 days for the rates to go into effect.”
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