Mount Pleasant losing about $50,000 to CMU’s water conservation

Central Michigan University’s water conservation efforts caused Mount Pleasant to lose an estimated $50,000 in revenue.

The City Commission is working on several incentives to reduce costs and bring in revenue for 2010 and beyond, said Finance Director and Assistant City Manager Nancy Ridley.

Mount Pleasant’s enterprise funds in the 2010 budget are hit by several factors, including CMU’s conservation efforts in residence halls and other buildings. CMU is estimated to have used 20 million fewer gallons of water this year.

Mount Pleasant sold 834 million gallons of water in 2000 and 740 million gallons in 2008, Ridley said. The estimate for 2009 for the city is 670 million.

“This is a fairly significant decline in revenues,” Ridley said.

Water conservation efforts, such as low flow fixtures and last summer’s cold and wet weather, contributed to decline in water sold by the city, she said. The same factors have affected cities statewide.

The closing of the Mount Pleasant Center also will affect water sales next year, Ridley said. The city will sell an estimated 23 million fewer gallons next year with the closure, she said.

Balancing the budget

If necessary, Mount Pleasant could implement a raise in water fees in the 2010 budget, costing a family of four 90 additional cents each month, she said.

The 1.8 percent increase is not a big raise, said City Commissioner David McGuire, and will provide the city with a 20 percent increase in revenue.

“There was no raise last year, and it’s not that large; when times are tough, we hate to raise anything,” he said.

Mount Pleasant re-bid its chemical contracts to save money. The city’s chemicals cost has varied from a high of $367,000 to a low of $186,000.

Additionally, the city could purchase a new heater for the chemical room for $5,000. It would save Mount Pleasant about $10,000 per year, Ridley said.

“This is one of those things you can’t not do,” she said.

Further suggestions included improving a city well. The city would receive more water out of the well, which would require less softening, saving on further chemical water treatments.

The improvements would cost $700,000 and would save the city approximately $140,000 per year, Ridley said.

The enterprise fund plan and the well improvements are great plans for the city, said City Commissioner Sharon Tilmann.

“I think this is an excellent plan; the staff is pretty forward-focused and innovative as far as keeping us on track,” she said. “(The well) will pay for itself in a number of years and will also be investing into the future.”

The next City Commission meeting is at 7 p.m. Nov. 23 at City Hall, 320 W. Broadway St.