Huntingdon Citizen Disputes Requirement for Water Rate Increase, Calls for Transparency

HUNTINGDON (August 27) - One citizen, who is also a candidate for town council, has taken issue with the handling of water rate increases by the Huntingdon Mayor and Council.

Barbara Knuutila, who is on the November ballot for a council seat, presented a hefty packet of documents and delivered a verbal presentation at Tuesday's regular monthly meeting laying out the findings from her investigation into the town's water system.

The crux of Knuutila's grievance is the language used by various town officials over several years indicating that the increases in water rates are required by the state. She presented email correspondence with the Comptroller's Office stating, "[Our] office did not specifically outline for the Town to implement an 'automatic annual increase,' only for them to adopt the recommended rate structure proposed by the third-party expert (which appears to have been a one-time increase during the 2017 rate study). With that being said, local governments are within their statutory authority to set rates and fees necessary to operate the utility system, many utilities choose to implement an automatic, yearly increase in order to combat inflation and to provide customers with an anticipated and uniform increase to their monthly bills. The Town of Huntingdon appears to have chosen to implement this rate structure under a 2017 ordinance, so while it is not a requirement from our office, it would be considered a self-imposed requirement, as all local governments are bound by what is set in their charter/municipal code."

Knuutila noted the ordinance in question includes the language, "The Mayor and the Town Council may reject the automatic adjustment by passage of a resolution for a specific fiscal year prior to the beginning of that year."

She contended that each year since 2017, the increase was presented to the council as a requirement, "never a discussion that the increase could be rejected by resolution."

She said in her verbal comments, "This is not a complaint, but a petition for transparency with the citizens of Huntingdon and especially transparency with the members of the council who vote on issues presented on behalf of the citizens. I want to make it perfectly clear that the city council members are not to blame for the annual water/sewer automatic rate increase. They can only rely on information provided to them and they should be able to trust that information."

Knuutila said at another point, "There is no transparency to this group of elected council members that the voters have entrusted to act in their best interest. I have attended numerous meetings and there is never discussion on agenda items."

Knuutila pointed to an exchange during the first vote on the increase for this year in which Councilperson Kelly Eubanks inquired, "Is this a mandate?" and was met with the response (from someone) "Yes, it is a requirement." According to Knuutila's account, Eubanks responded, "I guess if it's a mandate I vote yes."

Knuutila said, "Wouldn't it have been transparency with the council at this point to say, 'Well, no, you can make a motion for a resolution to reject the increase this year.' Would it have changed Mrs. Eubanks' vote? I don't know, but she should have at least had accurate information before casting her vote."

After Knuutila concluded her comments, Mayor Nina Smothers read an email (which was also included in Knuutila's packet) from Ross Colona, Assistant Director in the Tennessee Comptroller’s Division of Local Government and designated manager to the Tennessee Board of Utility Regulation (TBOUR): "Our office and the TBOUR fully endorse automatic rate increases, such as a Cost of Living Adjustment [COLA], for utility rates… We mentioned [in our utility manual], 'some utility systems have an annual cost of living rate increase that is adopted once and then rates adjust at an inflationary percentage each year.' Since this is in our manual, we definitely encourage this practice. Furthermore, there have been rate studies conducted as ordered by TBOUR that have resulted in the recommendation for an automatic rate increase, and the TBOUR has supported the adoption as such for local government utilities. Furthermore, in 2017 when Huntingdon adopted an automatic rate increase, the WWFB (now TBOUR) supported this endeavor. Had we found this to be a poor practice, we would have ordered the utility to desist."

Town attorney Robert Keeton commented, "When the state makes a suggestion on utilities, towns really have no other choice other than to adopt that, because next thing you know, it could become an order that you have to. And if the water/sewer system is not making a net profit, a positive net position change, if they do that for more than two years in a row, then the state can come in and set a rate much higher than anything that COLA addresses. COLA is an attempt to avoid having to do like [other towns] and raise rates 25 percent, 17 percent. There are several towns around here that have had to have very large jumps simply because they do not keep up with the inflation. If you don't keep up with inflation, the state's going to make you at a greater rate than what this council is doing."

Knuutila requested to respond to those comments, but Smothers declined her request.

In other business, the council approved on second and final reading an amendment to the zoning ordinance allowing the Board of Zoning Appeals to approve uses similar to permitted uses and uses permitted on appeal in residential districts.

Another amendment approved on second and final reading to Title 12 of the Municipal Code to bring the town into compliance with the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance energy code language. The new language provides for less stringent inspection requirements.

A resolution was adopted unanimously calling on the U.S. Postal Service to improve local service and return mail processing operations to Jackson. In 2012, the operations were relocated to Memphis, ending next-day local first-class mail delivery for residents and businesses in Huntingdon. The resolution states since the relocations, service has significantly declined and become unreliable.

On another unanimous vote, the town entered into an agreement with Community Development Partners, LLC for administrative and program management services on the water system improvement project. The contract amount is $60,000.

Two requests were approved for the use of Edwards Park. The Carroll County Juneteenth Committee hosts a BBQ Cook Off on the weekend of October 25-26. Shane Atwater and Jobina Gordon made a request for a basketball tournament with other activities on Sunday, September 1.

Lori Dillahunty, chairperson of the Carroll County Inclusion Park board, addressed the council to thank the town and many other entities and individuals for their contributions and to pass on the care and upkeep of the park to the town. She relayed important information about the upkeep and cleaning of equipment and bathrooms, announced some upcoming additions to the park and discussed a system for providing reservations.

Dillahunty also reported that a pamphlet was being produced that would be placed in welcome centers on I-40, and that the company that provided equipment for the park is including the Huntingdon park in a catalog to be distributed to municipalities and schools systems across the country to encourage inclusion play pieces.

The meeting adjourned after 30 minutes.