Washington Mayor Joe Wellman says the City Council and Board of Works will be meeting to discuss with legal counsel the city’s next steps concerning the lawsuit between the city and Daviess County Rural Water.
Rural Water has been buying water from the city for 25 years. In a statement released yesterday, the mayor explained it all started three years ago as the city wanted to renegotiate the contract with DCRW after Rural Water had requested the contract purchase amount to increased above their 30 million gallons a month and asked for a single wholesale purchase rate. The city and their financial consultant conducted a cost of service study and discovered a cost inconsistency. Rural Water withdrew their request, and then the city wanted to renegotiate the original contract. The city wanted to raise the rate for Rural Water by 57% and implement a 15% surcharge for out of town residents receiving Washington Water. Mayor Wellman said after three meetings with the DCRW board no agreement could be reached with them.
The issue went to court and the local courts ruled in favor of Rural Water and struck down the proposed increases. Just this week, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the decision for Rural Water while affirming the out of town surcharge.
In his statement, Mayor Wellman expressed his disappointment in the decision. He says the price that that DCRW is paying is not adequate to compensate the city for what it costs to provide water to them. He said residential customers in the city pay as much as $5.28 for the same water that costs DCRW $1.32. The mayor says the City Council does not think that is fair.