Martin County families already face some of the highest water bills in Kentucky. Now, the water board is proposing to raise charges on meter disconnections, reconnections and service calls. It also proposes to raise the rate on leak adjustments. All of these extra costs would hit hardest those who can least afford them.
Water board member Nina McCoy was right to object when the proposal came up for a vote Aug. 12. She reminded her colleagues that the Kentucky Public Service Commission only recently reduced these very meter charges, emphasizing that utilities are not permitted to profit from them.
McCoy also pointed out that late fees already tack on another 10% for families behind on payments.
Doubling the rate of leak adjustments, from $2 to $4.25 per 1,000 gallons, amounts to punishing customers for leaks they often cannot prevent.
As McCoy put it overall, “It just seems to me that this is cruel.”
The board chairman argues the changes reflect “actual costs” to the district. Yet financial records show Alliance Water Resources, the company running the system, is already paid $168,507 a month under its contract whether it disconnects one meter or 100 meters. To claim each service costs the district $30 strains credibility when those services are part of a fixed-price contract.
This proposal reveals the fundamental tension at the heart of Martin County’s water crisis: Residents are expected to pay more and more, while management collects guaranteed payments regardless.
In addition to paying one of the highest rates in the state, ratepayers already carry a $4.72 monthly “management infrastructure surcharge” imposed by the PSC to offset the cost of outside oversight. Asking them to shoulder higher meter charges and a higher rate for leak adjustments on top of that only deepens what looks like an injustice.
The water board’s duty is not to squeeze ratepayers for every dollar but to provide safe, affordable and reliable water. That obligation cannot be met by layering new charges on households that are already struggling to pay their water bills.
McCoy stood up for the people of Martin County in opposing this measure. Her fellow board members should do the same and withdraw these proposed increases before they reach the PSC.