A gold star goes to Athabasca town council this week for rolling back water rates to match the better-than-expected economic reality of the Aspen Regional Water System.
Thanks to water system operating costs that came in below projections, as well as some changes to how the capital costs will be repaid, the town was able to decrease water rates by just over 45 cents per cubic metre across the board, which works out to about a 15 per cent rollback.
There were other ways the town could have dealt with the unexpected water rate surplus, other than reducing water rates. They could have transferred the funds to a capital reserve for future costs related to the water system. They could have left the surplus on the books for now, in case operating costs rise closer to budgeted levels. They could probably have even gotten away with rolling it into general revenues to offset a very tight town budget, which might have allowed council to loosen the purse strings for some other projects not related to the water system.
Instead, council decided to return the money to those who could make the best use of it: Athabasca ratepayers. Their hope, undoubtedly, is that the money will work its way into the local economy in other ways that will benefit even more people.
A good measurement of character is if you do the right thing, even when no one is looking. In this instance, Athabasca town council passes with flying colours.
