Sturtevant trustees Tuesday night decided to send a letter to the Racine Water Utility officially objecting to an increase in the water connection charge, commonly referred to as a REC fee (residential equivalent charge).
If it stands, the current REC charge would rise about $130, from $3,320 to $3,450. A single REC is roughly 72,000 gallons of water the average household uses in a year. Commercial REC fees are based on a formula that estimates how many RECs a business will use in a year. For example, a restaurant would use 16 RECs, bringing that water connection fee to about $55,000.
The connection charge is an upfront fee that is based on future usage.
Officials are saying “no” to the increase in part because they feel like they have concrete examples of businesses that have abandoned Sturtevant because of prohibitive charges. But, trustees said they also want to see measurable efforts from the utility to reduce costs and more creativity in solving revenue shortfalls beyond raising rates.
We will have more on this story Wednesday.