Village of Fairchild Seeking Water Rate Hike, Payment Changes

Village of Fairchild officials are inviting residents to attend a public hearing on its application to increase water rates this month.

The application with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin seeks to change how the village charges residents for public fire protection. If approved, the village would begin charging residents for the water used to fight fires directly through their utility bills, rather than the village continuing to pay it through property taxes.

Their intent is to ensure that residents who don’t own property are still contributing to paying that cost. The requested rate increase also seeks to cover investments made in the village’s water infrastructure, as well as higher operating costs since the last rate adjustment nine years ago.

The City of Eau Claire recently approved a water rate hike for a similar reason. The City invested $20 million into a new PFAS removal facility at the water treatment plant, hoping that a large portion of the cost would be covered by various legal settlements with manufacturers found responsible for PFAS contamination. Combined, those settlements are expected to bring in over $12 million in total with the 20 percent water utility rate increase covering the gap.

The rate hike proposed by the Village of Fairchild would be carried out in two steps if approved, a 76 percent increase in step one and an additional 33 percent increase in step two. The average customer would see a total increase of about 135 percent when fully implemented.

The Public Service Commission’s public hearing on the application will take place on May 20th at 10:00 am. More information on the hearing and the application is available on the agency’s website.