The Town of Pelzer will implement changes to its billing system in the coming weeks, according to town municipal clerk Skip Watkins. Most of these changes will affect all water bill customers of the town. The town will change to a monthly billing cycle. Water bills being mailed this week will be the last bill on a two-month billing basis.
Beginning in September, bills will be mailed out monthly, around the 20th of each month. Meters will continue to be read in mid-month and the bill due date will be printed on the water bill.
Effective September 16 the town will implement a water rate increase. The rate increase is needed because of the cost of water supplied by Greenville Water System. The rate will increase by $1 per 1,000 gallons of water measured by the water meters.
Effective September 16 they will also implement a rate increase for sewer. They anticipate connecting with Renewable Water Resources (ReWa) of Greenville by December 2012 and ‘go live’ with sending Pelzer’s wastewater to their treatment facility on Osteen Hill Road near Piedmont for processing.
According to Watkins, ReWa’s treatment costs add several dollars to each 1,000 gallons of wastewater. Their current residential rates are a fixed fee of $9.50 per month plus $4.79 per 1,000 gallons of metered water. Pelzer will act as their billing and collection agent. They will show their charges as an individual line item. ReWa’s rates are available on their website; they are also posted on the town office bulletin board.
“Pelzer officials are keenly aware of the hardship these increases might cause. Careful consideration was given before deciding on when to implement these increases,” Watkins said. “However, these rate increases were inevitable and are the only way possible to cover the costs of these services.”
If any changes are made in the planned billing, they will be published on the town’s website (www.townofpelzer.com) and/or will be posted on the bulletin board in the lobby of town hall at 103 Courtney Street.
