San Juan Looks To Raise Water Deposit

By James Osborne, The Monitor, McAllen, Texas

Jun. 24–SAN JUAN — New homeowners could soon be paying three times more to get hooked up to the city’s water system.

On Tuesday night the San Juan City Commission approved raising the deposit for residential water service to $150. Under the original ordinance residents were only required to put down $100 with an immediate $50 rebate upon proof they owned the home.

The city also set a new scale on commercial deposits for water service, ranging from $200 for businesses with low water consumption to $400 for businesses with high consumption.

City Manager Jorge Arcaute said the increase was necessary in order for the city to cover itself against the roughly $320 lost every month to customers who decided to stop paying their water bills.

“If you look at how folks use water and when they use it, you have a couple months from when they stop paying to when they’re cut off,” he said.

“With inflation, this new deposit is a more accurate reflection of a couple months on a typical water bill.”

Arcaute said it was the first time the deposit amount had been increased in roughly 15 years.

Opposing the increase is Mayor San Juanita Sanchez, who said $150 was an unnecessary burden on many of the city’s residents.

“I felt it’s a bit punitive in nature,” Sanchez said. “Maybe it’s a strong word, but this is going to apply across the board.

“I know we need to protect the city, but I felt (the new residential deposit) was a little high compared to what we were going to charge businesses.”

As any increase in water service fees or deposits requires two public readings, the increase would not go into effect until July 11, the date of the next city commission meeting.

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James Osborne covers PSJA and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Monitor, McAllen, Texas

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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