5.3. ERMUSR 08-12-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Today if you get your water from Elk River Municipal Utilities you pay $1.50 for the first 9 units (9000 gallons of water) $3.50 for 10 to 15 units of water and $4.00 for all water above 15 units. This is ridiculous when you look at other communities around Elk River. If you use the data from the article "Worries over Water" from the July 23 issue of the Star News some people use 40000 gallons of water or 40 units. In Elk River that would cost about $134.00 compared to - Ramsey: $29.40 for 3 months (includes 15 units) or $9.80 for the first 5 units per month $1.98 for 15 to 25 units $2.02 for 25 to 50 units $2.04 for 50 to 100 units $2.06 for 100 to 150 units So in Ramsey that same 40 units would cost (120 units for 3 months would be 236.86 (which includes all other fee's not just the water)) $78.95 per month. Rogers: $1.42 per unit any amount So in Rogers 40 units would cost $56.80 Coon Rapids: $1.50 per unit, any amount So in Coon Rapids 40 units would cost $60.00 Otsego: $.0015 per gallon or $1.50 per unit So in Otsego 40 units would cost $60.00 Anoka: $.0102 per cubic ft or 1.36 per unit So in Anoka 40 units would cost $54.55 They state that the per day usage of water jumps from 1.5 million gallons in the winter to 7 million gallons in the summer. So for some rough calculations the people of Elk River pay Elk River Municipal Utilities $2,250 a day for water in the winter (1500 units times $1.5 per unit) and $22,875 a day in the summer (5500 units @$3.75 plus $2,250). If you look at the numbers they are collecting about $20,000 a day more in the summer. So in a 1 month time that is $620,000. Where is the extra money going??? If we paid $1.5 per unit (which I can not believe they are loosing money on our first 9 units) that same 7 million gallons a day would cost $10,500 per day or $315,000 per month. Again I ask where this extra money is going. Because Bryari Adams of Elk River Municipal Utilities believes there will be a water shortage in the next generation or two, the citizens of Elk River need to pay more for there water than the surrounding communities by in most cases more than double? Why is Elk River the only one that is charging this much for water? In the July 23 Star News Bryan Adams talks about how to conserve water, if I were to water the amount that he is saying i would not be saving water, but using more. When looking at the picture of the Mt. Simon & Hinckley Formations, it looks to me that most of the Twin City metro area pulls from the same water source, so is Elk River really going to make a difference?