Forsyth County is crying foul after Cumming officials rejected final details of a long-term water agreement that both sides gave tentative approval to two months ago.
The two sides came to an understanding May 24 — two days before the old contract expired — establishing rates and terms for a new, multi-year contract in which the city would sell the county water from its Lake Lanier facility.
But it turns out, the contract may be more mirage than material. Cumming officials are now reviewing charges for water used over Forsyth's allotment of 16 million gallons a day.
Forsyth County buys nearly all its water from Cumming, which is one of only four jurisdictions allowed to tap into the lake.
"I want to make it clear to anyone and everyone, that the [Cumming] mayor has already agreed to terms and should now accept what was previously agreed," County Commission Chairman Jim Boff declared at a meeting last week.
But Cumming officials say there was nothing in the proposed agreement specifying a price for raw water above the county's regular allocation. They want to charge $1.25 per 1,000 gallons for any overage. The cost is 10 cents per 1,000 gallons for the first 16 million gallons.
Forsyth County's 40,000 customers consume an average of 14 million gallons of water a day. County water officials say the county goes over its 16 million gallon limit about 10 days a year, and then by only 1.5 to 2 million gallons.
Reaction to the city's proposal ranged from outrage to irritation.
Commissioner Todd Levent said the May proposal, agreed to by both parties, listed one price for raw water, 10 cents per 1,000 gallons. He said there was no agreement to pay more.
Boff agreed.
"Since negotiations are already over, this commissioner will go no further in negotiation, and [I] expect the city to timely honor what it has already committed to," he said.
At a work session earlier in the week, commissioners Brian Tam and Patrick Bell said the county is using the city's extra capacity when it goes over its water allowance. They said paying $1.25 for raw water in these cases is still preferable to buying the city's treated water for $2.25.
Forsyth paid Cumming about $3.9 million last year for treated water and about $300,000 for raw water.
Bell said even in the worst case, the county could pay an extra $25,000 a year for the overages. It's important to keep that figure in perspective, he said.
Cumming Mayor Ford Gravitt spiced up the conversation last week when he announced the city had hired a civil engineer to study water rates in the surrounding region. The results, he reported, showed the city is charging about half the price of most suppliers and that Cumming would be within its rights to raise rates substantially.
But so far, the city has not moved on any threat and, in fact, has shown restraint. Its first water bill to the county since the old contract expired showed no change in rates.
"They were entitled to a rate increase under the old contract," county water director Tim Perkins said, "but they did not raise the rates."
The County Commission voted Tuesday to ask Cumming to continue supplying water under the old agreement until the end of the year or until details of the new contract can be worked out.
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