Thomas Howard / The Meridian StarMarion Mayor Larry Gill responds to residents' questions Thursday at a  meeting concerning increases to water and garbage rates.

Marion residents will see their costs for water and garbage pickup increase in coming weeks as the town’s Board of Aldermen voted to increase what residents are charged for the services.

In a Town Hall meeting held Thursday at the Hamasa Temple Shrine, Mayor Larry Gill, the board and other town officials answered residents’ questions and explained why the higher rates were necessary.

Marion residents have been paying a minimum charge of $11.46 for water, which stays the same until 3,000 gallons are used. Homes and business that use more than 3,000 gallons of water per month are charged $3.82 per 1,000 gallons above that 3,000 gallon threshold.

In its Oct. 18 meeting, the board voted to increase that minimum charge to $15.25, and reduce the number of gallons from 3,000 to 2,000. After the new rates go into effect, residents will be charged $15.25 for the first 2,000 gallons and an additional $5.50 per 1,000 gallons after that.

Gill said the increase was needed to make sure the water department could pay for leaks to be repaired and make sure the town’s water infrastructure was solid.

“They’ve got to be able to afford to fix everything going on with the water department,” he said.

Water Department Supervisor Andrew Bateman said the increase in water rates will generate about $9,000 per month. Of that, $4,500 will go to make payments on the town’s $854,000 CAP loan that was taken out to cover the town’s required match on a $3.4 million grant through the Corps of Engineers.

The grant funds, which account for more than 60% of the town’s FY23 budget, will be used to build an additional water treatment facility.

Bateman said this will be the first rate increase for water in 25 years. The last time Marion increased its water rates was in 1997.

Garbage Rates

Town residents will also see their monthly bill for garbage increase from $8.35 to $14.60. The increase, Gill said, was actually the full amount the town is paying for garbage pickup.

“We’ve got to charge the customer what we’re being charged,” he said.

Shortly after he took office in 2021, Gill said he received a letter from Waste Management explaining the cost for garbage pickup would be increased to $16.32 per can per month. On his garbage bill, however, Gill said, the charge was $8.35 per month.

After investigating, Gill said he discovered that the garbage contract had gone quite a while without being bid out, as it is supposed to be, and that the town had been keeping costs low for residents by using tax dollars to cover the remainder of the garbage fees, which is not allowed under state law.

The town signed an emergency contract with Waste Management to continue garbage service at $16.32 per can per month and asked the state to give the town time to bid out the garbage service and come into compliance with the fees.

After receiving bids in December, Waste Pro came in as the lowest bidder at $13.29 per can per month, and the board of aldermen approved a contract with the company for garbage collection. The contract, Gill said, limited garbage pickup to just the one trash can provided by the company. Nothing else would be picked up.

As the town worked to come into compliance with the law, Gill said he spoke with Waste Pro about picking up additional bags and household waste, and the company said that could be added for an additional $1.31 for a total of $14.60 per can per month.

“If I’m going to go up on garbage, I want everything I put out picked up,” he said.

Even with the additional garbage pickup, Gill said Waste Pro was less expensive than the other two bids the town received.

The decision to raise water and garbage rates was made after discussing the issue with the state auditor’s office and the state attorney general’s office, consulting with experts and months of internal discussions, Gill said. At the end of the day, he said the town had to comply with the law.

Gill said the attorney general’s office made it very clear that using tax dollars to pay for services was considered an “illegal donation of public funds.” The water department has to collect enough to pay for the water department’s expenses, and the garbage fees have to cover what the town is charged, he said.

“You can not use general fund dollars to pay for services provided,” he said.

By passing the full cost of garbage service on to residents, the Town of Marion will free up an additional $45,000 to $50,000 that can be put toward other uses.

Alderman Norman Coleman said having those tax dollars available to go toward other needs would have a big impact on what the town can accomplish. More importantly, he said, the changes in how Marion handles service fees sets the town on the right path following the law.

“We have to abide by the laws,” he said.

It is not immediately clear exactly when the new water and garbage rates will go into effect. Gill said the town is working to get the increases approved by the Public Service Commission, with residents seeing the increases sometime in December or January.