By Matt de Simone
Fincastle Town Council unanimously approved the town’s FY 2024-25 budget ($545,000) at its monthly meeting at the Fincastle Volunteer Fire Department Training Room last Thursday night.
There were no questions or concerns expressed by citizens about the budget at the public hearing at the May meeting. At Thursday’s meeting, no council members had any further questions.
Mayor Mary Bess Smith noted to council that one adjusted budget line item related to the contract renewal between the town and the Western Virginia Water Authority (WVWA) for the operation of the town’s wastewater and water systems.
Smith shared with council that she prepared a comparison and analysis to give them an estimate of the cost for the town to operate the plan on its own, versus contracting with the Western Virginia Water Authority to provide the service, in light of a proposed 10% rate increase noted in the renewal contract.
“Each time the contract comes up for renewal, we perform an analysis to determine if the increase in the rates and the related costs still make this the best option for the town,” Smith explained to council.
The mayor referred council members to an analysis she developed concerning “hire vs. contract” which estimated the cost differential between creating position(s) and hiring staff versus renewing the plant operations and billing contract with WVWA. After a discussion regarding the relative costs, the levels of service, and the support offered by both options, council unanimously approved renewing the Western Virginia Water Authority contract on July 1.
Smith reminded council that in addition to the increase in monthly operator and billing charges, the town has also experienced a dramatic increase in chemicals and utility costs related to operating the wastewater treatment and water systems. The last increase to the town’s water and sewer rates was effective January 1, 2021.
“We need to do a rate study,” Smith added. “And the town’s Infrastructure Committee has agreed to perform the study before year end, to determine if we need to adjust the rates effective January 1, 2025.”
The town is able to isolate and capture all of the costs associated with operating the plant, along with funding a capital replacement fund for major repairs and infrastructure improvements. Smith also reminded council that the plan is almost 20 years old and, therefore, repairs may become more commonplace.
Council member Bill Gaul noted that the benefit of WVWA’s expertise (and the town agreeing to a new contract) outweighs potential issues in having to hire new town staff that could potentially not have the experience and/or knowledge in dealing with the everyday issues WVWA sees in other localities.
