No rise in fees or taxes for sewage

ARIZONA CITY — There were no Arizona City citizens, other than the board, at the Arizona City Sanitary District public hearing on Thursday night for the proposed budget, fees and charges for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

The reason no one showed up is because there was no change in the fees and no one comes unless they’re angry about rate increases, according to Chairman Dave Ingraham.

One point of note in the approved budget is the almost $700,000 increase in overall operating expense. The increase in spending is due to capital improvements on the facility that will take place over the next year.

The district will use the money to start reworking the sequencing batch reactor, removing hydraulic units and putting in floating mixers and putting in new piping for the sludge pumps, according to Steve Kerr the district manager. These improvements will help the district better manage their facility and measure waste so sewage doesn’t end up where they don’t want it

The majority of the monies to fund the capital projects, $500,000, come from the reserve fund specifically for projects like the ones proposed. The rest comes from projected future revenues.