The City of Lindsay is raising utility rates to bridge the projected $1.1 million dollar budget deficit the city is facing. The Lindsay City Council approved the rate increases on city-provided electric and water utilities during a special meeting June 22.
Council members and city officials have spent several weeks looking at ways to cut expenditures and generate revenue to overcome the projected deficit and balance the city’s budget. By statute the city is required to have a budget in place by July 1.
In addition to the rate increase, other options on the table in public meetings have included personnel cuts, short-term financing through a bank and selling city-owned real estate.
The electric rate increase approved by the council includes a $6.50 hike in the base rate charged on all bills. For residential customers the base rate will increase from $13.50 to $20, and for commercial customers it will increase from $23.50 to $30. The cost per kilo-watt hour will also increase from 7.6 cents to 10 cents for residential customers and from 7.7 cents to 11 cents for commercial customers.
City officials estimate the rate increase will translate to an additional $30 on the monthly bill for an average household.
Water customers will see an increase in the base rate only, which will go from $12 to $15 for residential customers, and from $12 to $30 for commercial customers.
The increases for both utilities combined are expected to generate just over $1 million in new or additional revenue in the next year.
“For me, personally, waking up this morning knowing I had this meeting today my stomach’s been in knots all day. Because we all want what’s best for this town,” Council member Bart Drennan said during the June 22 meeting. “Nobody wants a rate increase. I don’t want a rate increase. But it’s one of the options that we have because we’re not meeting the needs to pay all the bills. There is not a winning decision. There is not a perfect decision.”
With the rate increase, the council was able to adopt a balanced budget resolution for the 2022-23 fiscal year. Though the budget adopted by the council did not include any cuts to jobs or personnel, City Manager Rebecca Niernberger recommended the council consider an additional $500,000 in cuts be made to personnel costs, to allow some cushion and make sure the budget was sustainable over the next year.
After adopting the budget resolution and the rate increase, the council convened to executive session to consider terminating Niernberger as city manager and hiring an acting city manager.
Upon returning from the two-hour executive session, council member Josh Miller made a motion, seconded by council member Bev Barker to terminate Niernberger, effective immediately, and to pay her severance pay in lump sum. The council voted 6-1 in favor of the motion. Council member Anthony Hernandez was the only no vote.
Miller then made a motion to hire Janice Cain as acting city manager at a pay rate of $3,500 per pay period. The council voted 5-2 to hire Cain. Council members Robin Staggs and Hernandez were the dissenting votes.
Cain previously served as Lindsay’s city manager from 1992 to 1998. She was also employed as city administrator for Marlow from 1998 to 2013, and as city manager for Altus from 2016 to 2019. Since retiring in 2019, she has worked as a consultant and interim city manager for several municipalities while they conduct searches for a permanent city manager.
