JAMESTOWN – The issue of water and electric rates for 2015 will be one of the items up for discussion during the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities monthly meeting Monday afternoon at the BPU offices on Steele St. in Jamestown.
The issue of electric rates has become a concern for some BPU members because of the city using some surplus revenues from the electric division to help balance the annual budget during the past couple years.
For 2015, Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi is once again calling for the use of BPU dividends, to the tune of $482,000. If that number remains in the final budget, then the city will have budgeted more than $1.3 million in surplus revenues from the BPU during a three-year period. Some members of the BPU say that money should remain with the BPU to help stabilize utility rates.
Earlier this month, the BPU held a work session and discussed the budgets for garbage, sewer and district heating with the board considering a $1 increase for garbage customers who do not recycle and a 50 cent rate increase for those who do. That means that starting in 2015, the garbage rate will $21 for non-recyclers and $10.50 for customers who receive a recycling rebate. BPU officials are proposing no rate increase for sewage or district heating.
Today, the BPU will discuss the 2015 budget for electric and water and the role the BPU surplus revenue continues to play in the city’s annual budget. The board may also finalize the 2015 budget for all five divisions during the meeting.
The meeting begins at 4 p.m. Monday.
CITY COUNCIL ALSO MEETS ON MONDAY
The Jamestown City Council, meanwhile, will also hold its monthly voting session tonight. Among the items on the agenda is a new health insurance rate for participating employees with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western NY for 2015 and 2016.
The agenda also includes a new phone system and internet service contract with DFT communications at a cost of $381.68 a month.
And the council will consider renaming the City Park located at the corner of West Third Street and Logan Avenue to “Veterans Memorial Park”.
Tonight’s voting session begins at 7:30 p.m. in the city council chambers and is open to the public.
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