On Monday evening of this week, the Broadus City Council met for their monthly meeting, as well as holding a public hearing to discuss the implementation of a proposed sewer rate increase.

No members of the public appeared at the meeting to speak for or against the project. Town Clerk Peggy Fruit read a comment from a town person, mentioning that those on a fixed income will have a tough time paying for the additional fees.

The Council voted to approve the rate increase. The change in cost will begin in the December billing cycle.

The base rate change increases from $12.30 at the current rate to a new rate of $32.00, which includes the use of up to 3,000 gallons of water. A fee of $2.00 per 1,000 gallons of water use over the 3,000 gallon amount will also be implemented, an increase over the previous $1.00 rate.

As an example cited from the notice published last month, for a user of the system using 4,000 gallons of water per month, the proposed monthly charge ($32.00 + $2.00 = $34.00) represents an increase of approximately 143% over the current monthly charge ($12.30 + $0.97= $13.97).

The funds from the rate increase would go to replace aging sewer infrastructure, specifically the sewer pump controls for the sewage lagoon.

The pumps are original equipment from the 1970s, and are in serious need of replacement – they clog with the rags, t-shirts, shop towels, and other strange and unnecessary objects people flush down their toilets. The pumps are also impossible to find parts for – Raymond Ragsdale said the company who made the pumps isn't even able to locate parts lists in their archives.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has been on the city to improve their sewage infrastructure, and Broadus is not alone in the push by the State. Many other towns across the state have had to improve their water and sewer infrastructure in recent years in order to meet state and federal guidelines, with the cost for those programs passed on to the city's water and sewer users.

The accompanying photo from the Montana DNRC shows the wastewater rates across Montana, as of 2017. With the increase in rates, Broadus will be more in line with other towns across the state, many of which have already improved their wastewater systems. Essentially, the rates in Broadus are catching up with the rest of the world.

At the meeting, the Council discussed the difficulty that folks on a fixed income would have in paying for the project, but unfortunately the infrastructure needs to be fixed, and needs to be paid for. If the project doesn't take place, Broadus stands to incur fines (and pass the costs on to the taxpayer) from the Montana DEQ until the work is completed.

To pay for the project, Broadus is taking out a loan for approximatley $945,000 to cover the costs associated with the project, with the loan being paid over the course of a 20 years. The initial amount of the loan was higher, but the town was able to attain a $200,000 grant from the Coal Board, as well as a 25% loan forgiveness from the state, which covers a significant amount of the costs.

Town Clerk Peggy Fruit mentioned that all the money for the loan will be paid from the users themselves – there are no tax funds used for the water, sewer, or garbage programs, they are all user supported.

The photo in the attached link shows how Broadus compares to other Montana towns with sewer rates. The picture is a rate comparison of how much the median household pays for sewer use across Montana. The increase in sewer rate for Broadus residents which will take place in December to help pay for sewer infrastructure replacement will bring Broadus more in line with communities across the state. (Photo from the Montana DNRC website).

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