Rushford Village new water meters and billing

The City of Rushford Village used some of the funding from the American Rescue Plan to purchase needed new water meters for the city. At their July 11 meeting, the council heard a report from City Ttreasurer Judy Graham regarding their first billing with the new system.

With the old system, water bills were averaged throughout the year and residents paid the same amount each billing cycle regardless of their water use for the month. The new system bills for actual water consumption. Some bills during the first billing period were really big; one bill was over $1,000! Judy decided she should hand deliver bills that had increased drastically and explain the new billing system to the residents.

Customers were actually appreciative of how complete the information on new billing was according to Judy. The most common reaction was, “I knew it was going to be high!” The $1,000 bill was caused by irrigation use during the dry month.

An online program provides access by the customers to their meter readings; it monitors usage in real time and shows where exactly the water is being used. A 24/7 use is a sign of a leak which residents can have a plumber check and repair.

Both Judy and Clerk Mary Miner felt the printouts were very user friendly and easy to understand. Councilman Robert Hart thanked Judy for hand delivering the bills and explaining them to the residents. “That’s good public relations!” Hart exclaimed.

Councilman Rick Ruberg asked if the water usage according to the billing system was comparable to last years. Miner answered that they really won’t know that until after the new system has been in place for a year because of the averaging used for the old system.

Sewer rates still come out as a flat billing rate for all customers. A recent $7 a month fee (a service charge, basically) was added recently to have a reserve for future needed repairs. Miner noted that new pumps and electronics were purchased a few years ago.

2022 audit review

Bill Sherry from Engelson and Associates presented a summary review of the city’s 2022 audit. He reported a clean opinion and no exceptions for the audit. Pointing out a decrease of $127,000 in funds, he attributed it to the recent purchase of the Freightliner. City debt was down $114,000 as the city continues to pay off debts.

The American Rescue Plan funds were used to pay $23,000 for air conditioners and furnaces as well as $39,000 for the new water meters.

Proprietary funds, which are supposed to pay for themselves, showed the water utility making $73,000 and the sewer utility losing $54,000. Sherry suggested the city would need a study to look at the age of current sewer facilities and possible replacement costs allowing for inflation. He felt the city should  put away a little more for future sewer repairs and replacement costs.

The city does have $750,000 in CDs earmarked for different purposes. It has $200,000 in the water and sewer funds.

Expenses exceeded the budget in streets and roads; $52,000 more was spent on seal coating, equipment repairs, and an increase in labor costs.

Other business

In other business, the council:

• Heard from Planning and Zoning Administrator Jon Pettit that new permits for reshingling had been issued to Pat Christian, Ronald Harpel, and Steve Wenzel and a permit to replace deck railing and shutters had been issued to Clifford and Patricia Heiden;

• Learned new manifolds had been installed in the F450 and DOT stickers had been updated;

• Received an updated ordinance with MN Energy to look over until the next meeting; the ordinance has to be updated every 25 years;

• Learned that Rebecca Charles of CEDA was working on the comp plan; Charles has not heard yet if any grants will be obtained for the comp or the merry-go-round.

The next City of Rushford Village council meeting will be held August 1 at 7 p.m. at CRV Hall Office. The public is welcome to attend.