GENTRY — Benton Washington Regional Public Water Authority voted earlier this month to add a temporary special assessment of $1.50 per month per metered water customer in an effort to weather a storm caused by a bank mistake in calculating bond payments and by the economic downturn combined with cooler rainy weather and less water usage.

According to a July 1 letter from BWRPWA chairman Larry Oelrich, the special assessment was passed by a 9-2 vote of board members representing the entities served by the water system. The $1.50 per month charge will be assessed from October 2010 through December 2011 to water service providers using BWRPWA water. The special assessment will automatically sunset unless the board votes to renew or extend it, the letter states.

A Regions Bank error in calculating the 2009 payment amounts to repay bonds issued in 2008 to finance a large system expansion resulted in a shortfall and a $435,000 withdrawal from the bond reserve fund which must be repaid by September of 2011, the letter states.

The economic downturn and cool rainy weather also resulted in decreased revenue for BWRPWA due to a decline in water usage and lower interest earned. The letter states that the water supplier had a 14 percent decline in sales and incoming revenue from its 2007 level. Added to that are equipment failures resulting in repair costs (to date) of more than $100,000.

Gentry public works director David McNair, who also represents the city of Gentry on the BWRPWA board and serves as vicechairman of that board, told council members the board had tried everything else to avoid passing on the assessed cost to water customers and had no other options.

McNair suggested that the city of Gentry not pass on the cost directly to its water customers but absorb the cost by implementing the scheduled 3 percent rate increase a month earlier - on the Nov. 1 water bill rather than on the December bill to more closely match the timing of the assessed BWRPWA charge - and not contributing to the city’s system depreciation fund at current levels.

According to McNair, the assessment will increase Gentry’s cost to purchasewater for its 2010 average of 1,997 water customers by approximately $2,996 per month. He estimated the 3 percent increase will cover about $2,850 of that monthly charge.

“Even though it will cause us not to be able to fund our depreciation funds as needed, as well as cause a slight shortterm shortfall, it seems the right thing to do to helpour customers as much as we can during a period of strain on everyone,” Mc-Nair wrote.

The hope is that economic conditions will improve and water usage will increase, helping BWRPWA to weather the financial storm in which it finds itself. If things don’t get better, other longerterm options may have to be considered.

News, Pages 1 on 07/14/2010