May 15 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Julie Ann Grimm The Santa Fe New Mexican



Charges for utilities continue to rise in Santa Fe with no relief in sight.

What's worse for the cost of living here is that some rates already hiked in recent years are scheduled to keep climbing, and others could jump even higher depending on policy decisions.

City water customers are in the second of five years of annual rate increases, sewer fees went up by a third last year, and officials contemplate more increases for trash and storm water. Meanwhile, the cost of electricity and gas from private utilities keeps mounting.

For area residents, the increases are starting to have a cumulative effect. Daniel James, an attorney whose two grown daughters live at home, said he had noticed utility bills growing. He said he wasn't aware that the city is in the process of boosting water rates by more than 8 percent annually.

 "We just get up every day and have our cup of coffee and go about the business of going to work, and government and business colluding together are really overseeing," he said. "They keep raising rates on us and doing whatever they want, and we really don't have anything to do with it."

The City Council last year adopted the plan to phase in higher water rates after years of failing to keep up with inflation since buying the local water utility from Public Service Company of New Mexico in 1995 or facing up to the huge cost of expanding the system by drawing water directly from the Rio Grande, a project now under way.

PNM, which supplies power to much of northern and central New Mexico, most recently bumped up electricity rates on April bills. Officials warn that July bills may also show an increase if the cost of running power plants exceeds estimates.

But that's not all. PNM managers say they're likely to ask state regulators for permission to hike rates again next year.

Base rates for natural gas service from New Mexico Gas Co., meanwhile, are frozen until February 2012 because of a deal struck when PNM sold the gas operation. Spokeswoman Monica Hussey said the company plans to seek state approval for an increase that could go into effect in 2012 or later.

The commodity cost of natural gas, however, is expected to take its typical seasonal drop this month. Since that expense accounts for 60 percent to 70 percent of a homeowner's bill, she said, changes in the base rate for service have less effect than the cost of gas itself.

In the public sector, although Santa Fe city government recently consolidated all of its utility services under one department, each one has a different rate schedule.

For wastewater, fees went up by 30 percent in 2009 to catch up on long ignored capital needs. Rates are scheduled to remain flat this year, then increase 4.2 percent annually in 2012 and 2013.

The city also charges a monthly fee for storm-water drainage. As part of discussions about balancing the city budget for the upcoming fiscal year, officials plan to raise that monthly fee to $3 from $1. A resolution that would make that change was introduced this week by Mayor David Coss.

Trash rates could also increase soon. The city-county board that oversees joint operations of a landfill and recycling center raised tipping fees for government and commercial haulers two years ago. The city at the time opted to absorb the increase and not pass it along to customers.

Now, the landfill director says tipping fees need to go up again. The city-county board is scheduled to take a final vote on the fee issue as soon as next week. After that, it will be decision time for the city policymakers.

"We've done everything we can do to not raise the rates," said City Councilor Rosemary Romero, who chairs the city-county board. "It's an expensive facility to maintain."

Romero said a decline in the volume of waste dumped at the landfill caused revenue estimates to fall short.

A current proposal calls for the city raise its trash-collection rates by about 3 percent during each of the next four years if the joint agency raises tipping fees as expected.

City Utilities Department Director Brian Snyder said he plans to keep an eye out for opportunities to save residents money and will have a consultant perform periodic "snapshots" of needs and revenue, but he notes that upgrades to infrastructure are needed to keep systems operating.

"If there is an opportunity to provide relief, meaning reducing the rate increases, then we will definitely do that," said Snyder. "We are not increasing our fees just to increase our fees. They are tied to projects that have been approved through the governing body."

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.

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