Pine-Strawberry Water Improvement District
BOARD MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
The schedule for the rest of the year is as follows:"
July 24 Saturday / 1 PM Cultural Hall
August 21 Saturday / 1 PM Cultural Hall
September 18 Saturday / 1 PM Cultural Hall
October 16 Saturday / 1 PM Cultural Hall
November 13 Saturday / 1 PM Cultural Hall
December 18 Saturday / 1 PM Cultural Hall
*Cultural Hall is the building to the south-west of the Ramada in the heart of Pine.
**PSFD Training Room is at the Pine Strawberry Fire Depart building on Hardscrabble Road.
***Senior Center is the building which is north and west of the Ramada in Pine.
Because adequate water resources are now available during the fall and winter months, the Pine- Strawberry Water Improvement District will make available seasonal water meters that will be operational from October 1st to April 30th. Once additional water resources are connected to the system, hopefully during 2010, these meters will be granted year-round access to water service.
These seasonal meters are available to all property owners within the District and are subject to all fees in effect at the time the meter is ordered. Current fees are $25.00 for Establishment of Service, $105.00 for Security Deposit, $500.00 for installation, and base and volume fees depending on the location. The full rate schedule is on the Districts web site at www.pswid.org. When, and if, the meter is shut off for the months when water resources are limited, there will be no base charge for the meter and normal turn-on and turn-off charges will not apply.
This program is designed to provide seven months of relief to those currently hauling water, and to provide service to those who have been waiting for meters to have access to water resources at least part of the year. Timing of installations of these meters will be dependent on the volume of meters requested; however, the District will attempt to engage additional service personnel to install these meters as soon as possible.
To order your meter installation, please contact the PSWID Customer Service Center at (928) 476-4222 or visit the office located at 6306 Hardscrabble Road in Pine. A form is required to be filled out for this temporary meter and the form and all fees will be necessary before scheduling of this installation can take place.
Monday October 5,2009
In response to a resident's question regarding the increased property tax for PSWID, Chairman Bill Haney offered this explanation today;
"The reason for the increase is relatively simply, but the explanation is lengthy.
The Board has always indicated that it would attempt to complete the acquisition of the water companies without raising water rates (the monthly bill for water service) for two years. As part of the final calculations for financing the acquisition, it was determined by Economists.com that the District could likely acquire the systems and operate the utility for two years without a water rate increase AND that the property taxes assessed by the District could be reduced to zero by 2012. That is the assumption that we continue to proceed with.
The current tax assessment increase is related to the efforts to acquire the water systems from BUI, but was never intended to be a part of the actual operation and debt service payments by the District. In June - July of this year, it started to become apparent that if BUI did not settle with the District in the condemnation action, the District would have to acquire additional funding to continue the action and continue operating in general (or go bankrupt before the condemnation was completed). It was estimated that to complete the condemnation action in the courts the District would require an additional $300,000 through fiscal year 2010 and the only source of such funding is property taxes. Hence, a budget reflecting a tax assessment of $300,000 (an increase from $90,000) was published in the Payson Roundup and on the District Web page, and a mandatory public hearing was held on July 16th. After a lengthy discussion, the budget with the increase was approved at that meeting and an article on the increase and its impacts was subsequently published in the Roundup.
The Board recognizes the impact of the increase and we stated at the budget hearing on the 16th that if we could come to a settlement with BUI before the assessment had to be delivered to the County Assessor on August 16th, we pledged to meet again and reevaluate the increase. Unfortunately, BUI did not commit to a settlement before then and the tax increase could not be rescinded. It does remain the Board's goal to totally remove any tax assessment in the future, and based upon current projections by our rate consultant, it is a feasible goal.
Neither I nor any of the other Board members are pleased with the increase and it is an action that we did not take lightly. But at the time, it was not apparent that the District would be acquiring the companies from BUI and this assessment was the ONLY way of staying in the game. We are in a totally different situation today and it is our intention to try to reduce the tax assessment next year with goal of eliminating it by 2012. Unfortunately, once the current year's tax rates are established by the County Assessor, we have no way of rescinding or reducing them.
Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future concerning any District issue. We are always available to answer any questions concerning your water service."
Bill Haney, Chairman-
Please retain the following information for your future reference:
Customer Service Center Location
6306 West Hardscrabble Road
Pine, AZ 85544
Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday
Telephone (Answered 24 Hours per Day): 928-476-4222
Fax: 928-476-4224
Website: www.pswid.org
This page was last modified on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 07:49:37 PM