The owners of a Yellowknife café and tourism venture will hold an event on Wednesday urging city council to change its handling of rates for trucked water.
Sundog Trading Post, on Latham Island, requires trucked water – as do many other buildings in that part of Yellowknife, plus homes in areas like the Con trailer park, Kam Lake and Grace Lake.
City councillors are in the middle of deciding how Yellowknife’s water rates should be adjusted to cover a $1-million revenue deficit.
A consultant has told the city that trucked water users should have their rates significantly increased as the income currently only covers about two-thirds of the cost of providing that service.
Councillors appear set to reject that suggestion and instead opt for one of two outcomes:
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- a smaller rate hike for trucked water users than the consultant recommended, but still a larger increase than for people on piped water; or
- the same rate hike for everyone, preserving the existing balance of who pays which share of the overall revenue.
Some trucked water users say there’s another way: drop the distinction between trucked and piped water and have everyone pay the same basic rate.
Kevin Hodgins, a veteran civil engineer, has been advocating for that outcome. This week, he called on city council to “treat all residents equally and remove the practice of charging trucked consumers much higher rates for substandard service.”
He says all three options currently on the table are unfair.
Sundog Trading Post said it agreed. Its owners, Richard McIntosh and Christine Wenman, described themselves as “deeply concerned that all options provided to council regarding revising Yellowknife’s water rates are not being considered.”
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From 7-8:30pm on Wednesday, Sundog will host what it termed a “water rates rally” that will feature a presentation from Hodgins.
The business called on residents to write to council before a final decision is made on Monday, October 27.
At a meeting earlier this month, a majority of councillors said they didn’t want to significantly alter the share of revenue that trucked water users provide – at least not until much more research is carried out.
Regardless of the option council selects, rate hikes are expected in the years ahead to cover the deficit staff have identified.
