Water will soon cost a bit more in Comox.
At Wednesday’s committee of the whole meeting, council unanimously approved a recommendation to increase the unmetered flat rate for water by $24 to $375 for each residential and commercial customer for 2018.
The increase is coming out of the five-year financial plan, explained Clive Freundlich, the town’s director of finance.
“During those budget deliberations, discussion included the regional district plans for large expenditures to build and operate a deep-water intake from Comox Lake, a water treatment plant and a new pipeline to deliver the treated water to the current regional water system,” he noted in his report to council.
In 2017, the regional district increased their bulk water rates to $0.71 from $0.66 per cubic metre - a 7.6 per cent increase, he added.
The town has about 85 per cent of its users who pay the flat water rate, while about 50 per cent of residences are metered, but some choose not to use the metered rate.
Coun. Marg Grant asked why the increase is for users of the flat rate only; Freundlich explained the town receives the bulk of its revenue from flat-rate users.