Following a Feb. 4 public hearing, the Powder Springs City Council voted 3-2 to approve the sale of its water and sewer systems to Cobb County.
Opposed were Councilwomen Nancy Farmer and Patricia Wisdom.
After the meeting, Wisdom told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the city’s water/sewer reserve has declined from about $6.2 million last August to almost $1.5 million now, with no explanation to her of reserve expenditures.
Wisdom said the Council has not been provided with monthly budget statements since August.
Since the Council is scheduled to review the budget on Feb. 13, Wisdom said she wanted this matter to be postponed until the budget information can be made available to the Council members.
Then summarizing in a written statement given to the AJC, Wisdom said she needs to see “a clear and accountable plan” for the use of the water sale proceeds, that “our 2020 budget is solvent” and that the city “can satisfactorily manage and sustain itself without the monies that we receive from water revenue.”
During his State of the City presentation in January, Mayor Al Thurman said, “There will be a savings of $30 million in infrastructure repair. Residents will save 25 percent to 100 percent on their water bills.”
The $5.5 million sale will be closed in April with $550,000 payments from Cobb to Powder Springs each year for 10 years, using the increased revenue from city customers to make the payments from Cobb to the city.
This payment from the county “will offset debt service payments made from the (city’s) General Fund,” according to the city’s Feb. 4 resolution.
Also, seven city employees of the water department will become employees of the Cobb County Water Department.
Cobb County Water System Director Steve McCullers told the Cobb commissioners, who voted 5-0 in favor in December, that the deal will move 7,500 customers into the Cobb system where rates are 30 percent lower.
Information: CobbCounty.org/communications/news/cobb-board-agrees-purchase-powder-springs-water-system
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