Yarmouth, in Canada’s Nova Scotia province, commissioned consultants to work out what the new water rates should be. The rates were approved by Council. The Yarmouth Water Utility was all set to entre the new rates into their water billing software. And then … it emerged that the consultants had used the wrong base figures altogether. The increase was to be a large one: 60 per cent in the first year, 22 per cent in the second year and 2 per cent in the third year. However there was a problem with the way the rates were calculated. It turns out that the consultants who prepared the report didn’t use Yarmouth’s water billing base rates in calculating the new rates but rather those of another municipality. The actual increase would “only” be 24.9 per cent in the first year, 21.9 per cent in the second year and 1.7 per cent in the third year.
The mistake comes from using a lower-than-actual base rate to calculate the percentage increase. All increases must first be approved by the province’s Utility Review Board. A hearing on the matter is expected to take place sometime in January or February. A member of town staff detected the error during a review of the consultants’ report. Have they been paid? Why?
No comments:
Post a Comment