Ringgold residents will pay a little more for turning on the faucet.

Ringgold City Council voted unanimously Jan. 8 to raise water rates 7 percent after several years with no increase.

“We are going to get as many complaints about a 5 cent raise as you will to get what you need to operate,” said Councilman J.B. Petty. “At least we got to go up some.”

After several years of reducing expenses of providing water to residents and businesses, the council considered as much as a 10 percent across the board increase but opted for a lesser amount.

Currently the base rate for 2,000 gallons of water is $7.44 and $2.02 per 1,000 gallons above that base. The increase will make the base rate $7.96 plus $2.16 per each thousand gallons above the base.

According to City Manager Dan Wright, the average household uses about 4,000 gallons of water per month.

The increase on the average household costs is from $11.48 to $12.28 or 80 cents.

Councilman O. C. Adcock said the last raise was five years ago.

Councilman G. Larry Black urged the council to make the increase as slight as possible and suggested incremental increases over time rather than a larger one-time increase.

Vice Mayor Bill McMillon suggested going with the 7 percent increase compromise.

Despite the hike, possible annual revenues will increase only by $28,980 if water usage remains constant, according to Wright.

The deficit that the city is fighting is $111,400 in revenues. According to the 2007 budget prior to the increase, the city will receive $454,400 from water revenues but will spend $565,800. After the increase, there will still be an approximate loss of $82,420.

Wright suggested replacing worn out water meters throughout the city at approximately $28 each to help provide readings that are more accurate.

“It’s going to help to get proactive about replacing our water meters,” Wright said.

In other business Monday, Jan. 8, at Ringgold City Hall, the council voted unanimously to:

* Set the qualifying fee for mayor and council seats for the Nov. 6, 2007 election at 3 percent the annual salary.

* Appoint Bernice Beasley as Ringgold election superintendent and set the salary at $12 per hour and $8 per hour for election workers.

* Re-appoint Lee Tubbs and Terry Crawford to the Ringgold Planning Commission for three-year terms.

* Approve water tank inspection contract for $3,000 with Liquid Engineering.

* Approve purchase of desktop computer for Ringgold Depot coordinator.

* Approve $3,148 contract with Ringgold Telephone Co. to install card reader lock system at Ringgold Depot.

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