Message from Selkirk Water Supply Company President Ken Savage:
I trust that the sticker shock was not too bad when you received your water bill today. Kris has been inundated with calls about the rate increase. Some have said that they were not even aware that a rate increase was coming. With that in mind, I thought I would take this opportunity to say a few words. I think most of you have been keeping up with, and are in tune with, what the board is doing and why we are doing it, at least I hope so. This note is to address some issues that not everyone seems to be aware of. The base water rate and the cost of the water (per thousand gallons) was established by a formula provided to us by the TCEQ. The reason we did not include any water in the base rate was because, had we done so, the cost of that water would have raised the base rate by another $10.50. We did not think that would be fair to the 20 or so homeowners who are actually using zero water.
The Board of Directors simply did our best, with a lot of thought and several meetings, to come up with a realistic budget for next year. The computer program then gave us the exact charges that had to be used to meet that budget. The only item that was added over the estimated cost was $10.000.00 dollars to begin building a reserve fund to be used for any unexpected expenses, such as equipment failures.
You also, may not be aware of the fact that our homeowners association loaned us $34,900.00 to make the original purchase of the water company back in 2009. That same association has loaned us another $9,000.00 this year to make necessary repairs, that we did not have the money to cover. Repayment of these loans is also part of the complete budget, spread out over several years.
The rate charged will be looked at yearly and, if we generate more revenue than anticipated, the rates will be adjusted downward. Each of us, having paid the membership fee, is a share holder and therefore an owner in the WSC. We are a true non-profit and by law can only recover actual expenses after building up a reasonable emergency fund.
I hope this answers some questions. Our next scheduled board meeting is on Saturday the 24th, at the Firehall, at 8:00 AM. I will send details ASAP. If you have friends or neighbors who do not use email, please help us pass this information on. If you have any questions or concerns, email or call me at 979-429-0495.
