Clerk Chatter:
The City of Mazeppa did a study of water/sewer rate and tax rate study. This is a tool that the City is using to see how best to pay for a new wastewater treatment plant. This study is a comparison to 10 other communities. The comparison communities were chosen by population size and proximity to Mazeppa. Our community is in the bottom 3 for water sewer rates and tax rates. One of the reasons is because we have not had to replace our treatment facility or had major collection system issues. The City has also been very frugal in scheduling other projects and paying for those projects with current taxes and user fees collected. Councils past and present have chosen to levy at a rate needed to maintain current infrastructure and put modest amounts of funds into City reserves. We now need to replace the facility as it nears its end of life. Facility repair costs go up with every year of age. One option was to replace the obsolete and worn items. We may gain 10 years on the current facility, but the cost per year would be greater than paying for a new facility. This decision was not arrived at without a great deal of discussion and thought. On November 30, 2022 the City will have a Public Hearing to discuss different combinations tax and rate increases to pay for the facility. The Council wants to have input from the community to try to achieve a fair and equitable way to pay for this infrastructure. No one likes to see an increase in their taxes or their user fees, but this is needed infrastructure and the City is trying to get the maximum possible grant funding and determine the best way to pay for the rest of the project.
