After 3 hours of public comment and another half hour of discussion, the NID Board of Directors voted to increase water rates for both treated water customers and raw water users at Wednesday’s Board meeting. The rate increase is set at a maximum of six percent per year for five years and is designed to align revenue with expenses while maintaining sufficient reserves. The District must also follow Proposition 218 guidelines which mean all customers must be treated equally and NID cannot discriminate between agricultural users and treated users.
Over 30 of the more than 100 people in attendance spoke against the increase. The Board was challenged by both agricultural users and personal users. One cattle rancher in the Lincoln area was comparing cost of service for irrigation water versus treated water customers.
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Due process as well as expenditures were questioned.
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Customers on fixed incomes or no income also spoke against the increases.*
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The Board did state that they are committed to agressively seeking ways to limit the increase each year attempting to keep it below the approved six percent maximum.
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NID Division 1 Director Nancy Weber. The resolution was amended to include language about limiting increases as a result of the discussion.