The five-member board needs three to vote. Three were absent due to travel, a personal emergency and a death in the family.
Evansville Water and Sewer Utility (EWSU) Executive Director Lane Young said the new $260 million plant is needed and needs water rates to cover that construction.
“Rates are set based on what revenue we need to operate and pay debt service,” he said. “I mean, that's at a high level. Those are the two main components along with some monies that we use to fix things — not borrow, just cash that we have.”
The EWSU has recently changed their plant replacement plan. The original plan had ballooned to around $400 million.
The water plant is being replaced because many parts were built in the 1880s and needs updating.
Young said plant design and construction is a long, complex process and getting it started sooner than later would be best.
“The state takes time to go through our proposals,” he said. “And this, this is a pretty significant change in project design. And so we need to give them the time to go through that.”
The EWSU Board regularly votes on millions of dollars in items, and not all are water related.
For example, renewing the trash contract needs to happen before the end of the year. Trash is actually a responsibility of the EWSU.
The next meeting on which they'll likely vote to approve the rate schedule is Thursday, Dec. 21 at 2 P.M. This will add an additional $7 dollars to water bills by 2026. Most of the increase is due to interest rates.
Young has previously said should interest rates come down, the rate increase will also be reduced.
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