A working group formed to develop a new rate structure for Rehoboth wastewater and water users will not have its work completed in time for commissioners to vote during their Friday, March 15 meeting. As a result, beginning April 1, wastewater and water bills in Rehoboth will increase 60 percent and 30 percent.

Mayor Paul Kuhns said the group had been working hard, but it takes time to develop an updated rate structure that’s fair and equitable. There’s been a lot of work analyzing various types of users within the system, maintenance, debt service and future upgrades.

“Unfortunately, it appears as though these updated rate schedules will not be in place by the time we implement our 2019-2020 budget,” said Kuhns, in a March 6 email. “Therefore, at least for the first quarter of that budget, we will go with the original estimated increases. The rate payers will be billed an additional 60 percent for wastewater rates and an additional 30 percent for water rates versus their most recent billing.”

Public Works Director Kevin Williams, who chairs the working group, said Jan. 18 the working group would try to complete their work by the commissioners’ workshop Monday, March 4.

City Manager Sharon Lynn, who is also a member of the working group, announced the delay during at the March 4 workshop.

“We’re making good progress, but we’re not quite ready to make a recommendation to the commissioners. That will have to be, hopefully, sometime in April,” Lynn said.

The percentage increases were recommended as part of a rate study conducted by Massachusetts-based The Abrahams Group. The consultant revealed the results in November.

According to the report, in addition to the $42 million spent on the outfall, GHD, an engineering consultant for the city, has recommended roughly $4.8 million in improvements to the city’s water system and roughly $12.4 million more in improvements to the city’s wastewater system through fiscal year 2023 – the period of time for the review.

The working group has met seven times since being created in early January by Kuhns. Formation of the group came about after city officials flirted with the idea of Sussex County taking over the wastewater utility service. But, during a special town hall prior to the formation of the group, many members of the public voiced concern about the possible takeover.

The first five working group meetings were in private, but the last two have been in public after the state attorney general ruled meeting in private violated Freedom of Information Act laws. A group of Rehoboth citizens spurred the ruling by filing a complaint with the attorney general.

The working group has made no final decisions, but it appears they’re moving forward on a recommendation that would have a rate structure based on six months of peak use and six months of nonpeak use. The idea behind this method is capturing more revenue during the summer months, when there are more visitors.

Williams has said one drawback from this method is that a major reduction in flow would result in a major reduction in revenue.

During the group’s most recent meeting, Feb. 27, Williams said he would like to see a minimum charge implemented so the city can budget for at least a minimum amount of revenue.

In addition to how the bills are formulated, the recommended amount of money spent on capital improvements in future years fluctuates. The group is looking at cost-smoothing measures to account for those fluctuations.

The group was scheduled to hold its eighth meeting March 1, but it was cancelled because a quorum could not be reached. As of press deadline March 7, the working group had not scheduled another meeting.