Facing a light agenda, the McAdoo Borough Sewer Authority boardtook the opportunity Wednesday to note its current state of affairs,specifically how efficiently the authority has been operating in thepast month.
Addressing recent talk of dissolving the authority, boardChairman Ron Simasek read a prepared statement at the meeting topoint out some of the positive accomplishments during January.
"Our new payment plan put into effect on Jan. 1 has provided ourcustomers with $13,000 worth of discounts to date," Simasek said.
He said that customers who pay quarterly or twice a year willsave 5 percent, while customers who pay the entire year's bill atonce will save 10 percent, or $60, on the typical $600 annualcharge. The discounted rates went into effect at the beginning of2011.
In addition to the new rate plans, Simasek said the authorityboard has managed to save thousands of dollars by replacing theformer board solicitor with Slusser Law Firm.
He also noted that the authority realized savings elsewhere byswitching its provider of telephone and Internet services andelectricity, and by choosing a new insurance carrier.
"We hired a different collection agency with an 80 percentsuccess rate at no cost to us, which by the way, is above theindustry average and has enabled us to collect thousands ofdelinquent account dollars," Simasek said.
Simasek also said that while many neighboring authorities haverecently increased their rates, Mc-Adoo Borough Sewer Authority haspassed discounted rates along to 400 of their customers.
Board Secretary Kelly Hoherchak said 182 of the 400 sewercustomers receiving discounts pay only one bill a year. Theremaining 218 pay quarterly and semi-annually and receive a 5-percent discount.
"This cuts down on postage to send out those bills on a monthlybasis and it saves the authority some money," she said.
In recent months, McAdoo Mayor Dane Watro has suggested theborough take over authority operations and use some of its surplusto aid the cash-strapped borough. A study might indicate whetherit's feasible to abolish the authority, Watro has said.
Watro and Simasek have been engaged in a dispute over the futureof the authority since the mayor made those suggestions.
The borough council has not committed to dissolving theauthority, nor has it supported any study examining the possibility,despite repeated recommendations from Watro to do so.
"Our goal is to continue as an authority board, to prevent anyincreases in fees, to run this operation as efficiently as it hasbeen and to continue to look for ways to do it better," Simaseksaid.
No comments:
Post a Comment