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by John Dowd
The Stevensville Town Council held a special meeting on Tuesday, August 6 to discuss the controversial topic of raising town water and sewer rates. The meeting was attended by nearly 50 individuals, which is unusual for any Stevensville council meeting. During that meeting, the council would vote to accept the rates as they appeared in front of the council that afternoon. However, some council members are taking issue with the vote, not on the grounds that the increases are not needed, but with the procedure that was followed prior to the vote.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the council voted to approve figures the public had not seen until that night. Those rates, according to Mayor Bob Michalson, were updated after it was discovered that during their calculations, the town accidentally doubled some figures that influenced the final rates. The new rates, voted in on Tuesday, determined that the standard base rate for residents with a 3/4 inch line would now be $58.50 for water and $56.50 for sewer. They also added to their proposed rates that instead of the next increase taking place in January, it would take place June 1 of next year. These are in contrast to the figures they posted over the last month, and which were posted in the agenda packet online for the Tuesday special town meeting. As of Monday, these older incorrect figures are still posted on the town’s website in the Tuesday, August 6 special meeting agenda packet. There, the website clearly shows the proposed base water rate being $52 and sewer being $61 for that same ¾ inch line user. However, the packet that was physically handed out during that Tuesday meeting had the new figures.
Concern arose when two of the council members, Wally Smith and Isaiah Nelson, expressed disagreement with the new figures. The basis of their concerns was that they only found out about the change that evening. Nelson stated during the meeting, “I didn’t know what the numbers were until I sat down.” According to Smith, this meant that the vote taken to pass the new proposed rate changes and to place them into effect, was “out of order.” He also believed it essentially circumvented the public’s constitutional “right to know.”
When the vote was taken, council members Stacie Barker and Cindy Brown voted yes to the rate change as proposed. Nelson and Smith voted no. However, Mayor Michalson broke the tie, a power, according to Smith and public record, he said he would never use. Regardless, it is within his authority as mayor to break a tie.
Smith said after the meeting that his main concern stems from a procedural issue. He claims that the current active Stevensville Town Council Rules state that any change to meeting items must be given to the public at least 48 hours prior to a meeting. During the regular town council meeting, held Thursday, August 8, Michalson stated first that that rule is no longer in the council rules, and second that the regulation to give 48 hour notice is not defined in Montana Code Annotated (MCA). He also stated that rule was meant and defined to be used specifically for regular town meetings, and that it does not apply to special town council meetings, like the one on Tuesday. However, in the current rules posted on the Town’s website, under Town Council Rules, it states, “The Mayor may elect to revise the agenda by adding an item for consideration, provided the revised agenda shall be posted and distributed no less than 48 hours before the meeting.” Additionally, this is written not under any section regarding meetings, but under the section specifically referring to agenda items for any town meeting. This is laid out in Part IV. Agenda, Section 1. He did correctly state that the town council “48 hour notice” is not defined in the MCA.
During the regular meeting on Thursday, when Michalson addressed the public and the council, he stated directly to the council members who were not aware of the change, “It is your obligation to take the time to ask questions and to dig into everything.” He said that they should have looked into the changes ahead of time.
Before voting on the proposed water and sewer rate increases at Tuesday’s meeting, the council held a public hearing on the proposed rate increases, as well as a proposal to discontinue the utility bill assistance program.
One of the first to speak was Marilyn Wolff, a former town council member. “I am deeply concerned that this is a great hardship for people and businesses.” She spoke specifically on the rate changes. To illustrate her point, she said that, in looking at other local municipalities including Hamilton and Missoula, residents there are paying around $55 for both sewer and water combined. She said these rate increases could not be considered, “reasonable and just.” She suggested impact fees for developers instead and also said the budget should be settled first.
Another to speak was Sarah Lucas. Lucas attended because her mother is one who benefits from the Utility Bill Assistance Program. She stated that her mother has been in Stevensville for 30 years and qualifies for the assistance due to limited income. “We’re in an extreme hardship,” Lucas said. She said the program is for the elderly and disabled and ending it would leave these people out in the cold.
Later in the meeting, Michalson said that they were told by MMIA (the Town’s insurance carrier) that they could not legally use this program as it was written, and the council ultimately voted to discontinue the program. However, Barker commented, saying, “As a council, we would like to come back and have a discussion on how to set this up the right way.” This would indeed come to pass at the Thursday meeting, where the council decided to hold a committee of the whole meeting in September to start creating a new program to help town residents facing financial hardship with their utility bills.
After public comment, Michalson and others spoke to explain the need for the proposed increases. He stated that the town has an aging infrastructure, and that they are paying on what was originally over $6 million in loan debt to the USDA. According to him, if they do not raise the rates to keep up, and to prevent continuing to deplete reserves, “we’re only fooling ourselves.”
Michalson added that over 15 million gallons per month of treated water is leaking into the ground due to the town’s aging infrastructure. Without ample money in their reserves to the tune of millions, the town will not be able to provide the match for grant funding to do the necessary repairs to mitigate these leaks. Leaks they cannot find, as they are subsurfaced in pipes, some of which are nearing or over 100 years old. Without those grants, the town will not be able to afford repairs as they arise. According to Michalson, they are a single major repair away from catastrophe.
“We’re not doing this because we want to, we’re doing this because we’ve been told to,” said Michalson. “We did not raise the rates every year sensibly.” To help explain this, Bobbie Shular with Montana Rural Water attended to answer questions. “I know this is difficult to look at,” she said. “This is a huge challenge to have to face.” She reiterated the needs given by Michalson, explaining that her office helps come up with the numbers after looking at a town’s finances. “Every year you don’t do an increase you’re that much further behind the ball.”
Schular addressed the concern about other municipalities brought up by Wolff, stating that every town is different and has its own unique identity. She explained that some towns and cities have plenty of water rights, and are working on lowering costs to bring in new businesses as they are lacking in those respects. Others do not have near enough water to go around and must provide up to date service to a small community. That service must remain up to standards. In these small communities, the costs are often higher because they have “less people to spread the cost across,” stated Schular.
This point was reiterated by Robert Underwood, who assists the town with accounting and bookkeeping. He stated, when doing basic budgeting, he was always taught, “You have the expenses and you have the amount of people that can cover the expenses.” Underwood also commented on the need for the rate changes, stating, “This has been a problem for years and I want to thank the mayor and the council for taking this on.”
Prior to the vote, council member Brown stated, “I just want the general public to realize this is a hardship for the council as well… This is really going to hurt my family.”
During the Tuesday meeting, Michalson stated the following, regarding the public’s confusion on the town’s processes. “Come to the meetings!” said Michalson. “This is your town, this is your money. You need to come to the meetings.”
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