10 Jun OWASA Board Approves Fiscal Year 2023 Budget and Rate Adjustment
The Orange Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors unanimously approved the budget and rate adjustment for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) at a meeting on June 9, 2022.
The approved budget includes a 16% rate increase to support critical investments in the community’s water and sewer infrastructure. Roughly 50% of the bill customers pay for services goes toward funding critical infrastructure improvements that decrease risks of failure in our systems and processes that would negatively impact the environment and OWASA customers. A 16% rate increase will raise the median residential bill for OWASA customers using 3,000 gallons of water per month by $10.37 to $75.36. (Due to a few large users, the average household bill is higher: 4,000 gallons per month. The bill for 4,000 gallons will increase by $12.71 to $92.17.)
Funding assistance is available for customers who have OWASA bills that are past due
A 7% increase had originally been projected for FY23, but OWASA has seen operational costs rise significantly due to several factors. Inflation has increased the cost of supplies needed to safely treat the community’s water and wastewater as well as the cost of construction. These increased costs and a highly competitive labor market applied pressure to OWASA’s budget projections in multiple ways.
“This is a budget that invests in the future of OWASA,” Board member John Morris said during the meeting.
The FY23 budget covers costs of deferred infrastructure investments and upgrades to technology critical to operations and billing. These deferments were made in previous years to ensure rates were not increased in 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic. Some of these technology systems are now approaching the end of their useful lives and need to be upgraded before becoming security risks. These investments will also help streamline OWASA operations for years to come.
Board member Kevin Liebel said this budget is “investing in the OWASA Team” to support retaining members of OWASA’s highly qualified, dedicated workforce.
New rates will go into effect on October 1, 2022.