Council approves water rates, rules

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, July 16, 2003 | 9:24 a.m.

The water bill for the average single-family home in Henderson will increase by almost $5 a month beginning in October.

The City Council on Tuesday voted 4-0 to approve higher water rates and tighter water-use restrictions. The new restrictions, which include limiting watering of lawns to four days a week in nonsummer months, mirror those approved by the Las Vegas Valley Water District and those expected to be approved this week by other water providers in the Las Vegas Valley.

Henderson will also add four part-time water conservation specialists, who will patrol city neighborhoods looking for water runoff and violations of the new restrictions. Violations could carry fines of $20 to $320 for homeowners, city Utility Services Director Kurt Segler said.

Both the higher charges and use restrictions are intended to encourage water conservation as the area suffers through the worst drought on record, he said.

A decision on proposed water use restrictions for golf courses, which would have included putting courses on a water budget, was put on hold at the recommendation of staff. Segler said there isn't consensus among the member agencies of the Southern Nevada Water Authority on the proposed golf course regulations, so all the agencies will probably hold off on those restrictions until they are further reviewed.

The higher water rates come with changes to the water-use tier system that bills are based on. A new most expensive tier for the heaviest water users was added. The council chose this plan over an alternative that simply raised the rates for all three existing water-use tiers. Under that alternative, the average customers' bill also would have increase by about $5 a month.

The approved rates changes and shifts in the existing tier structure mean those using less than 6,000 gallons of water per month will see no change to their bill, while those using more will see their bills increase.

But the monthly bill for the average Henderson single-family home, which uses 18,000 gallons of water a month, will go from $32.29 to $37.21, a $4.92 increase, Segler said.

The new rates and tier structure will be implemented in September, and first show up on customers' October bills.

Councilman Andy Hafen said he would like to see the city reward people for using less water, instead of just using rate increases to punish those who do not reduce their water use.

Mayor Jim Gibson said that in the future the council may want to look into tighter restrictions on landscaping for new homes.

A resident of a Henderson multi-family community complained to the council Tuesday that the water rates are unfair to people living in multi-family homes, such as townhomes and condominiums. The city water rates are higher for multi-family homes than they are for detached single-family homes. Like the rates for the single-family homes, the rates for multi-family homes will increase by about 15 percent under the approved rate increases, Segler said.

Councilman Jack Clark defended the higher charges for multi-family homes. He said that because such developments have more homes per acre, they use more water per acre than single-family home developments.

Councilman Steven Kirk did not attend the council meeting.