The Odessa City Council is expected to approve 2.5 percent rate increases – or a combined total of $1.93 more per month – for water, sewer and garbage customers during their Tuesday council meeting.
Council briefly discussed the proposed rate increases during their Sept. 7 work session and voiced no objections.
Assistant City Manager of Administrative Affairs Cindy Muncy, last week told council that “the rate increases are needed to cover inflation, equipment costs and an increase in employee salaries.”
Mayor Javier Joven emphasized that the rate increases will not be used to repay a $95 million certificate of obligation that council in August approved to pay for the rehabilitation of the city’s water treatment plant.
The average Odessa household will see a .52 cent increase in their monthly solid waste bills, Muncy said. Residents who live in apartments or mobile homes will see a .27 cent increase. Small businesses will see a $2 per month increase.
The average household will see their sewer rates increase by .53 cents per month, and residents who use 2,000 gallons or less per month will see their bills go up by .32 cents per month, Muncy said.
Water users will also see a 2 ½ percent increase in their bills, with users of 5,000 gallons per month seeing their bills go up by $1.92, and rates for residents who use 2,000 gallons will increase by $1.32. Qualifying senior citizens 65 years or older will pay $1 per 2,000 gallons.
Council is also scheduled to consider, and possibly vote to approve the allocation of $10,161,479.50 in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Representatives from Medical Center Hospital and Odessa Regional Medical Center have made separate pleas to council requesting American Recovery Plan Act funds. Hospital officials said the funds are needed to help them hire more nursing staff to care for COVID-19 patients.
MCH is requesting $4 million, ORMC $2,592,000.
MCH President and CEO Russell Tippin said MCH is struggling with a severe nursing shortage at a time when COVID numbers have increased locally. His concerns were echoed by ORMC President Stacey Brown.
Tippin and Brown said they are literally competing for nurses with hospitals around the world.
“It’s put quite a strain on our facility,” Brown said. “If we can’t get any more help within the next two weeks, we’ll have to cut back on the number of (COVID) patients we can take.”
Councilman Steve Thompson has said he supports the funding requests because the city would be reimbursed by the federal government.
Tippin told council he has made a similar request to county commissioners, but the county has not yet acted on that request.
Council will also consider a request from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin for $430,000, so the school can purchase and install new athletic equipment at their sports park.
City Manager Michael Marrero is recommending that if council decides to approve the request, the $430,000 would come from the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax fund. The council could also use general operating dollars, he previously said.
UTPB recently allowed several local sports associations that had been using the university’s sports fields for years to remove equipment and even building structures that the sports groups had purchased over the years.
The sports groups decided to relocate after UTPB and the City’s long-term contract expired on Aug. 31. Leaders from the sports associations refused to sign new contracts with the university.
The proposed new contracts would have required the sports groups to pay a small fee to continue to use the school’s facilities, submit to annual financial audits and give the university oversight of the use of their own fields.
Several city council members said last week they support giving UTPB the funds because the city does not have a park in the East part of Odessa. UTPB officials say they intend to make the park and its facilities available to the public.
