Reading Area Water Authority poised to sustain competitive water rates

Jun. 14—The Reading Area Water Authority has not had a rate increase in six years.

Although Act 47 authorizes annual rate increases up to 3%, RAWA has held its rates, said William Murray, executive director.

As the city prepares to exit the state's program for financially distressed cities, RAWA is in a stable position.

"RAWA is now poised to sustain your water system at affordable prices," Murray said Monday at a City Council committee-of-the-whole meeting. "That is very important to economic development."

Refinancing a few years ago reduced RAWA's debt service by $750,000 a year, he said, and resulted in a total savings to date of $9 million.

That savings allowed RAWA to hold increases and retain competitive rates, he said, noting a recent study showed RAWA's rates are in the middle of the pack for the area and lower than those of private systems.

RAWA was established by the city in 1994 to acquire, hold, construct, improve, maintain and operate the city's water filtration plants and water distribution systems. It is governed by a seven-member board appointed by City Council.

"We send out over 27,000 bills containing charges for water, trash recycling, clean city and sewer fees each month," Murray said, noting RAWA processes over $36 million of revenue for the city each year and with the city manages over $70 million a year.

Although RAWA has no control over the city sewer, clean-city trash removal and recycling services or their rates, it bills for those services as cost-saving measures for the city. Putting all the utilities on one bill, saves the city over $500,000 a year, Murray said.

"So we will keep doing it," he said.

RAWA reads over 28,000 meters each month, he said. When a meter cannot be read, the bill is estimated.

When the meter is eventually read, it can result in an unusually high bill, he said, and that can be a problem for some.

"They owe more than they planned for and then it usually requires some kind of assistance to help the person catch up," Murray said.

To help eliminate the problem, he said, monthly goals for meter readings were set three years ago. This reduced the number of estimated bills from about 2,000 to just a few hundred a month, he said.

RAWA also implemented a policy Murray calls "the grandmother rule."

"We treat every customer as if they were our grandma," he said, "helping out as much as possible and using all of our knowledge to help people, not hurt them."

Qualifying families who fall too far behind are directed to a state emergency program aimed at helping low-income families pay overdue water and sewer bills.

Nearly 500 RAWA customers got help through the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program, or LIHWAP, since it rolled out in January.

"We have obtained over $625,000 for our customers, and we've helped over 445 families," said. "These are people that were truly in need of help, and we've been able to help them get it."

Grants are available to eligible city and other RAWA customers who meet the income guidelines found on the state Department of Human Services website.

The program replaced short-term water-assistance programs aimed at pandemic relief and former city hardship programs.

One-time crisis grants are available for homeowners and tenants who pay their own water and sewer bills and have lost or are in jeopardy of losing service due to past-due bills.

Qualifying households are limited to one grant for water service and one for wastewater service.

Grants up to $2,500 each are available.

By relieving some of the burden placed by past due accounts, the program helps keep rates down and benefits all RAWA customers, Murray said.

"Water affordability and sustainability are critical elements of the RAWA financial plan," he said.