Concerns continue to flow down the pipeline over a potential spike in regional water rates. The North Okanagan Regional District is poised to hike rates for a number of water utilities. But Coldstream Coun. Gyula Kiss says the rates could leave many households, particularly those on fixed incomes, high and dry. “Nobody really looked at the consequences of what would happen if we actually implement these,” Kiss told his council Monday. “There are three proposed water rate increases, low, medium and high. Some councillors also refer to them as “must have, should have and nice to have.” Kiss projects that for a Coldstream household such as his own, which uses 570 cubic metres of water per year, the rates would see an increase of 35 per cent for the low range, 79 per cent for the mid range and 125 per cent at the high end. While Kiss agrees that increased rates are necessary to cover maintenance of the water systems, these numbers are doing much more. “They are subsidizing a huge amount of money for reserves,” said Kiss. “I don’t think the present customers should be setting up a huge reserve for future customers.”
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