Voters in Norman overwhelmingly approved a water rate increase during Tuesday's special election.
67 percent of voters approved the two dollar hike for residential customers that pushes the base rate from $5.50 to $7.50.
The city said it was necessary to pay for water treatment plant improvements required by the federal government. It also allows the city to reopen some closed wells, drill new ones, and purchase land for a groundwater treatment site.
The Oklahoman’s Graham Lee Brewer breaks down the specifics:
Users up to 5,000 gallons will pay an additional increase of $1.35 from $2 to $3.35; users of 5,001 gallons to 15,000 gallons will pay an increase of $2 from $2.10 to $4.10; users of 15,001 gallons to 20,000 gallons will pay an increase of $2.45 from the current $2.75 to $5.20; and anyone using more than 20,000 gallons a month will see an increase of $1.85 from $4.95 to $6.80 a month. Customers using more than 20,000 gallons a month also will be charged a 35-cent surcharge for every thousand gallons of usage over 20,000 gallons during the peak usage months of July and August. For commercial users, the base increase is $1.70 per thousand gallons from $2.10 to $3.80 a month, except in summer months when the increase in usage will increase by $3 per thousand gallons if the user goes above its winter water usage amount.
Norman is the only city in Oklahoma where voters decide whether or not to increase the utility's cost. It's the first time they've done it since 2006. The Norman Transcript’s Joy Hampton reports the “no” camp was disappointed, but not surprised:
"The 'yes' camp ran a smart campaign: take something popular — water quality improvements — marry it to something less popular — a capacity expansion that subsidizes new real estate development — and relentlessly focus on the positive," said Dr. Stephen Ellis, who led a campaign against the proposal via social media. "I was hoping people would be willing to delay the good part to cut out the bad part, but the voters did not want to wait," Ellis said. "I get that — Norman's water quality issues are well known. "Now that the water quality issues are taken care of, however, I hope that Norman's citizens will be willing to turn their attention to issues involving water capacity and how we distribute the burden for providing it."
Only about 10 percent of Norman’s registered voters participated in the election.
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