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CALEDONIA — In four years, homeowners attached to the Caledonia Utility District sewer and water system may find themselves paying almost $100 more than they do now.
Caledonia is working on approximately $87 million in capital improvement projects and it’s going to cost residents in using village sewer and water within the Caledonia Utility District an extra $16 this year, effective Sept. 15. By the fourth quarter of 2026, residents will be paying an extra $96 per year — or $24 per quarter.
Residents on their own on-site sewer system do not need to pay these charges.
The Caledonia Utility District covers the majority of the east side of Caledonia, the south side, a strip on the west side along Interstate 94 and the Caddy Vista neighborhood.
A financial plan was prepared by a municipal advisor and reviewed by village staff. The village borrowed $12.75 million in 2021 and the financial plan indicates that the village will need to issue additional water and sewer revenue bonds of approximately $12.5 million in 2023, $11.3 million in 2024 and $6.9 million in 2025 to finance scheduled sewer projects in 2021-2025.
The financial plan currently projects future increases in a minimum suggested sewer rate schedule for a single family home effective in the fourth quarter is as follows:
Commercial businesses on the village sewer system are affected by this ordinance as well. Businesses are to pay according to the number of units of sewer they have. A business with four units of sewer will go from about $616 a year to $680 the next.
The Caledonia Village Board at its meeting Monday voted to amend an ordinance relating to these sewer service charges. The topic is additionally being sent to the village’s Legislative and Licensing Committee for further review.
The Caledonia Utility District has a five-year sanitary sewer Capital Improvement Plan of approximately $56.9 million, spanning 2021-2025, village plans say.
In addition to the Capital Improvement Plan, the Mount Pleasant Tax Incremental District no. 5 Conveyance for the Interstate 94 corridor in Caledonia (TID No. 1 and TID No. 4) has a cost share of $27.06 million. The City of Racine wastewater treatment plant equipment upgrade has an estimated cost share of $3.62 million. This is a total of approximately $87.58 million of capital that will need to be funded through 2025, according to village plans.
The financial plan also indicates that in order to complete the Capital Improvement Plan, bond for the projects and pay Caledonia’s share of the Mount Pleasant TID No. 5 Conveyance and Racine WTP equipment upgrades, the sewer service charge will need to increase.
The projected overall increase needed in the sewer service charge for the five-year Capital Improvement Plan, the Mount Pleasant TID No. 5 conveyance and Racine WTP equipment upgrade is 64.4%.
Due to high intensity rain events in May, July and August 2020, and the lack of additional sanitary sewer capacity available, the Caledonia Utility District will need to construct additional attenuation basins to mitigate and control peak sanitary sewer flows.
These projects will hopefully avoid or limit the duration the Village of Caledonia is placed on a sewer moratorium at two of its three connection points with the Racine Wastewater Utility.
The Utility District completed the Erie Street Sanitary Sewer Rehab in 2022 and it also began two major sewer projects, the Hoods Creek Attenuation Basin cells 2 and 3, and the Dominican Lift Station rehabilitation.
The balance of the five-year Capital Improvement Plan has Riverbend Lift Station safety site and force main replacement in 2024, sanitary sewer replacement along 4 ½ Mile Road (TID no. 5 developer driven) in 2023-2024, the Highway K Sanitary Sewer Extension (TID no. 1 developer driven), the Central Attenuation Basin in 2023-2025, the TID no. 4 Phase 4 sanitary sewer extension (TID no. 4 developer driven), and the Caddy Vista East Sewer Improvements. The total remaining project costs are estimated at $46.1 million.
These projects have been in the works for three or more years. The sewer and water improvements were planned well before a lot of the TID improvements had been made; these were recommended improvements to the system prior to development happening.
The first interest-only payment on the village’s share of the Mount Pleasant Clean Water Fund Loan was paid in November 2021, and the first principal and interest payment was paid in May 2022.
The village’s share of the projected City of Racine wastewater treatment plant equipment Clean Water Fund Loan is expected to have its first principal and interest payment due in May 2024.
Trustee Fran Martin asked how these numbers compare with other municipalities. None of the village staffers present at the meeting had an immediate answer.
Village President Jim Dobbs said he’s not sure if the right move is to only have residents who use the system pay for it. He requested sending the topic to the village’s Legislative and Licensing Committee to do research, compare to other municipalities and see if the village can modify its system of how to collect funds, such as possibly financing the sewer and water system over the entire village tax base.
A formerly sunken boat sits upright into the air with its stern stuck in the mud along the shoreline of Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. Lake Mead water has dropped to levels it hasn't been since the lake initially filled over 80 years ago. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Dead and desiccated fish arranged by a visitor to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area stick out of cracked mud Tuesday, June 28, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. The area, once under the waters of Lake Mead, dried up as water levels dropped. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A mud encrusted teddy bear sits in a formerly sunken boat at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Bobby Rhinebolt, right, smokes a cigarette while sitting beside Victor Perez near a formerly sunken boat implanted upright in mud and now above the water line at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. As the water level at the lake recedes, sunken boats and other debris are appearing along the shoreline. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Lights illuminate boat docks at Hemenway Harbor on Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Monday, July 4, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A coyote walks across dry land that was once under the water of Lake Mead near Hemenway Harbor at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Monday, July 4, 2022, in Boulder City, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A sign marks the water line from 2002 near Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Saturday, July 9, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. The largest U.S. reservoir has shrunken to a record low amid a punishing drought and the demands of 40 million people in seven states who are sucking the Colorado River dry. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Craig Miller smokes a cigarette beside his stranded houseboat at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Thursday, June 23, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. Miller had been living on the stranded boat for over two weeks after engine trouble and falling lake levels left the boat above the water level. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A formerly sunken boat lies in a field of grass far from the water line at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Dave Kiley, also know as Diesel Dave, boards a boat while helping to free a beached houseboat with the crew from the youtube channel HeavyDSparks at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Thursday, June 23, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. The crew of the youtube channel hauled a houseboat stranded by falling water levels back into the water. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Craig Miller sits in his stranded houseboat at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Thursday, June 23, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. Miller had been living on the stranded boat for over two weeks after engine trouble and falling lake levels left the boat above the water level. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Craig Miller looks as people help to free his stranded houseboat at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Thursday, June 23, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Craig Miller hauls a hose while trying to free his stranded houseboat at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Thursday, June 23, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. Miller had been living on the stranded boat for over two weeks after engine trouble and falling lake levels left the boat above the water level. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A person is reflected in a window as they walk across Hoover Dam at Lake Mead, Sunday, June 26, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. The bathtub ring of light minerals around Lake Mead shows the high water mark of the reservoir which has fallen to record lows. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A bathtub ring of light minerals shows the high water line of Lake Mead near water intakes on the Arizona side of Hoover Dam at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Sunday, June 26, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. The reservoir is now below 30 percent of capacity, Its level has dropped 170 feet (52 meters) since reaching a high-water mark in 1983. (AP Photo/John Locher)
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Rachel Kubik covers Racine County government for The Journal Times as well as eastern municipalities such as Caledonia and Wind Point. She is the senior reporter and a frequent page editor. Follow her on Twitter @Rachel_Kubik.
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