FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Fort Wayne city councilman Russ Jehl expressed his opposition to proposed rate increases ahead of Tuesday evening’s council meeting.
The 2nd District councilman said in a Monday morning press release council is set to discuss three rate increases and two revenue bond issues requested by City Utilities. If approved, the move would raise water, sewer, and stormwater rates over the course of three to five years.
I have lost faith in the leadership of City Utilities and believe it has lost sight of its mission to serve its Fort Wayne ratepayers who act as City Utilities’ shareholders. The very first thing I did at the beginning of the new term was systematically express my concerns to executive leadership and firmly request that they be addressed. When executive leadership proposed the rate increases earlier this year, I reminded them that time was running out to convince me to even contemplate rate increases.
City councilman Russ Jehl
Jehl is calling for “a change in leadership and rededication” to the mission of City Utilities, and listed ways to do so:
- Improved customer service to its Fort Wayne ratepayer
- Improved communication and responsiveness to its board of directors, Fort Wayne City Council
- Properly reimbursing the Civil City Budget for operating expenses it incurs
- Addressing expensive development costs within the City
- Coherent policy for assisting County growth that does not burden the City ratepayers
- Fixing and cleaning up its project messes, such as timely and quality remediation
Jehl concluded his statement by describing the way City Utilities currently operates as “a regional monopoly.”…