AMY SZPARA

LAPLACE – Sewer rates in St. John the Baptist Parish will be going up over the next five years at an average of an 85 percent increase for residents. Approved by the St. John Parish Council at Tuesday night’s meeting, the increase comes after much debate between council members. In a 5-4 vote, the council voted for the plan that will raise sewer rates in phases based on the amount of water consumption per residential building or business. Concerned about the added burden on low-income families and elderly citizens in their districts, council members Dale Wolfe, Melissa Faucheux and Lester Rainey Jr. said they could not support the increase without good reason. Though parish officials said the increase is necessary to maintain sewer systems in the growing parish, some of the council was not convinced. According to St. John Parish President Nickie Monica, sewer rates have been examined since 1997. “Recently the need to adjust rates became apparent,” he said at the council meeting. Parish officials said the rates must increase due to increases in chemical, labor and insurance costs. A total of $800,000 was taken from a one-cent sales tax for capital improvements last year to maintain the sewer system. “The approach we are taking is very responsible,” said Monica. Under the current plan a residential building that uses 35,000 gallons of water pays $25 a month, while a commercial building pays $50 a month. The increase will raise the residential buildings, multi-family housing complexes, to $60 and commercial buildings to $71. At the end of five years a residential building will pay $83.90 and commercial will pay $98.70. The council was more concerned with how the increase will affect the average resident, those who use 5,000 to 20,000 gallons. Currently, a resident who uses 5,000 gallons pays $10 a month but over the course of five years will pay about $2 more. People who use 10,000 gallons to 20,000 gallons now pay $13, but their rates will significantly change in the next five years. Those who use 10,000 gallons will pay about $24, and those using 20,000 will pay around $48 a month. Councilman Cleveland Farlough, who presented two alternative plans, asked the council to postpone the vote until adequate consideration had been given to his plans. Farlough proposed plans that would cut the low-end users a break and cause the commercial users and heavy users a higher increase. Councilman Lester Rainey Jr. said his only concern is the lower-end users. “I have a lot of elderly and single-parents in my district. Any increase on a fixed income hits hard. Any increase should appear at the upper-end of residents.” Rainey was concerned about the new plan because under its structure, residents who use 5,000 gallons will have a 19 percent increase, while businesses who use the same amount will still pay their $15 fee. Rainey added that he has already been getting a lot of calls from people in his district about increases in electricity and gas costs. Faucheux agreed with Rainey, stating that until residents get an increase in Social Security pay they shouldn’t be asked to pay more. She proposed making newer businesses pay more. “I don’t want to force-feed it to the existing residents,” she said. Councilmen Allen J. St. Pierre and Ranney Wilson both argued that the increase is the only way to update the sewer system. Wilson said the system must maintain itself, adding that $1.99 for those on the lower end is more than fair. “As long as the adjustments are reasonable we need to pass this. I don’t think I could find another way. We’re sitting up here. We have to make those hard decisions.”