Boulder City to see higher utility rates

Wednesday, June 26, 2002 | 9:56 a.m.

Boulder City businesses and residents will pay more for water and electricity effective Aug. 1, the Boulder City Council decided Tuesday.

The higher water prices also pushed up the cost of golf at the municipal course, effective the same day.

But with much of the city's power supplied cheaply by Hoover Dam, the new rates will still be about half of what users pay in the Las Vegas Valley.

The monthly utility bill for the typical 2,000 square-foot home will rise from $130 to $149, Finance Director Bob Kenney said. That payment includes trash and sewer service, which the city also provides. Higher-than-average costs of buying supplementary electrical power on the open market led to $1 million in unexpected costs last year, and a $500,000 hike by the Southern Nevada Water Authority added to losses, City Manager John Sullard said.

The increased rates should recoup those losses, Sullard said.

Resident Bill Smith noted that as of June 2001, despite the losses, the city had $15 million banked in the utility fund. Smith also noted that the inflated market prices have dropped closer to normal.

"There's really no justification to raise utility rates and base it on a situation that no longer exists," Smith said.

A senior golfer on a fixed income complained that the new golf rates would cost her an extra $45 each month. She said she would have to give up something, "maybe tipping."