4/4/1984 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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against franchise holders such as Tanen and Salter, and we _ have pursued an aggressive policy to put stringent provisions in the new franchises to prevent the franchise holder from letting these systems get into such diffi- culties. Further, when it comes to paying, we do not go to the taxpayer. This utility system is set up as an enterprise fund and is supported by the rate structure; the expenses are the expenses of trying to run an efficient operation to pay the electric bill - the improvements - the mortgage, etc. The County is not in the business to make a profit, or even get a fair rate of return on equity - we just want to see that those who use the service pay for it and not the taxpayer. A certain dollar package must be collected, and he believed the only possible disagreement that can come is in arguing that you can charge this group of people a little more or you could reduce the sewer cap to 6,000 gallons and raise the base charge, etc. That is why we hired a professional to tell us the best way to do it. The Chairman pointed out that one definite benefit the people have now is that they finally have the reliability of the County operating the system. He did not believe that anyone down there can say they have not seen improvement and that it is not improving daily. Mr. Vernon stated that although the water is better, it is still poor, but he realized that this will continue until the County can put in the new lines. Mr. Vernon pointed out that they have had a fourfold increase over the last few years and wished to know how long it will be before they get another increase after this. He wished to know what the County has in the planning stages. Chairman Scurlock informed him of the County's plan to extend lines out Route 60 and explained how monies were collected from developers to accomplish this improvement. 15 BOOK - 56 PAGE 630