Edgerton council ups residential electric rate

7/20/2005

EDGERTON, Ohio - Residents of this southwestern Williams County village face higher electric rates from their village utility starting next month, and will decide in November whether they want to pay higher property taxes for a larger fire levy.

Village council unanimously increased the electric rate Monday in a move that will cost the average residential customer an extra $2 a month.

That money is to go toward higher fees that federal regulators recently allowed for companies that own the power lines that electricity flows through on its way to the village, Edgerton Clerk-Treasurer Teresa Kurtz said.

Edgerton Utilities has 1,111 electricity customers.

Council also voted 6-0 Monday to ask voters to replace a 2-mill, five-year fire levy, a move that would increase the village's annual collections by about $9,000.

The levy collects $54,500 a year now. If the levy would be replaced, which means collections would be based on current property values, it would collect $63,500 a year, Ms. Kurtz said.

It was unclear last night how much the replacement levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home. The Williams County auditor yesterday did not make such information available to The Blade, which requested it.

The levy, which is used for fire equipment, is the village's only levy that is limited to fire protection expenses. It has been on the books since the 1970s and renewed and replaced over the years.

Edgerton has 1,229 voters eligible to cast a ballot on the issue.