The City of Flin Flon has waited a year for permission to raise utility bills when it already had the authority to boost rates on a smaller scale, a regulatory spokesman says.
A spokesman for Manitoba’s Public Utilities Board said that when Flin Flon was given authorization to increase utility rates in the fall of 2014, it was also granted permission to raise rates in each of 2015, 2016 and 2017.
The approved increases for those years were never enacted, and they would not have met the city’s objective.
The city wanted rates to rise 11 per cent to $1,236 a year for every non-metered customer as of September 2015. The approved rates would have put bills at $1,185 per year starting in 2017.
The spokesman said PUB learned earlier this year that the city had not upped rates in 2015 or 2016. He could not explain why rates stayed the same, instead deferring questions to the city.
Mayor Cal Huntley said that after The Reminder asked him about the situation, the city “determined there was some confusion as to the interpretation of what was approved and what was still outstanding.”
He said further dialogue was initiated to clarify the matter and that details of that clarification would be reported at Tuesday’s council meeting, which took place after The Reminder went to press.
As The Reminder reported last week, the city has waited a year for the PUB to rule on the proposed 11 per cent rate increase. A decision on that application is expected next month.
The city says the increase is necessary to cover cost overruns within the utility department, including expenses at the water treatment plant.
