GALION—The following Op-ed letter was submitted to Crawford County Now:

Dear Crawford County Now:

Last night (5/4/22), the City of Galion Utility Committee met regarding Mayor O’Leary’s proposal to raise sewer rates.  For those who don’t know, the Utility Committee is comprised of Chairman Kara Ault, Councilman Mike Richart, and myself (Councilman Paula Durbin).

Mayor O’Leary attended the Committee meeting to insure that his sewer rate increase was put on the ‘fast track’ and passed by the Utility Committee.  But, as I said last night, this whole sewer rate increase is just “crisis management” and let me make it clear that the crisis has been caused by the Mayor himself.

In 2014, the Mayor was given a report by the City’s consultant (Sawvel) informing the Mayor that roughly 400,000 gallons of water were being treated but unbilled, causing a staggering loss of revenue for the City in both the Water Fund and Sewer Fund.  Keep in mind a unit of water billed results in a unit of sewer being simultaneously billed, so unbilled water results in revenue losses for both the Water and Sewer Funds.

The fix is somewhat easy concerning this ‘unbilled water’ problem – all the City has to do is begin a water meter testing and replacement program, and I recommend starting with the industrial and commercial users.  But the Mayor has refused even to start a meter testing and replacement program.  If the Mayor had instituted a meter testing and replacement program back in 2014 when he first knew about the unbilled water problem, a conservative estimate is that the City would have gotten $ 10 million in increased revenue in both the Water Fund and Sewer Fund.

So, the Mayor’s plan is not to fix the unbilled water (loss of revenue) problem and instead his plan is to increase utility rates, with last night’s focus being on increasing sewer rates.  I intend to hold the Mayor accountable – Mayor O’Leary needs to fix the unbilled water (loss of revenue) problem and not expect the City’s utility customers to pay for his negligence.

I strongly oppose this sewer rate increase proposal.

Paula E. Durbin

City of Galion

Council-at-Large