Perry posts water and sewer rate hearing notice — but no date on file
The city has noticed a public hearing on utility rates, the decision the council pushed off in August; the posted PDF does not give a readable date, time or proposed rate.
What every household in Perry pays for water and sewer is headed back in front of the city council. The City of Perry has posted a notice of public hearing on water and sewer rates to its website this month, at perry.mi.us.
The catch, for anyone who wants to show up and be heard: the file the city posted does not yield a readable hearing date, time or set of proposed rates. The Current could not extract those details from the notice as published. Residents who want to know when the hearing is, and what the council is being asked to charge, will need to call or visit Perry City Hall at 203 W. Polly St.
Rates have been an unfinished piece of business in Perry since summer. The Current reported that at its Aug. 6 regular meeting the council approved four spending items and accepted two resignations, and pushed its water and sewer rate decisions to Sept. 3. A formal public hearing notice is the step that comes before a council can adopt new rates — the point at which residents get to speak on the record before a vote.
A rate hearing is one of the few municipal items that reaches every address in town. Water and sewer charges are not a millage on a tax bill; they arrive as a utility bill, and they hit renters and homeowners alike.
Perry's utility system has been drawing money and attention this year. The Current reported that the council approved a time-and-material repair quote for the Bath Road lift station, and that the city has been exploring placing a water tower on Perry school grounds — a possibility raised at the council's June 18 meeting.
The notice does not say whether the proposed rates are higher, lower or unchanged. We are not going to guess. Until the city confirms the figures, the only certain fact is that the hearing has been noticed.
What happens next: The Current has asked the city for the hearing date, time and the proposed rate schedule, and will publish them as soon as they are available. Separately, two Perry threads remain open on this desk — how the council seat vacated by Larry Lambert on Aug. 6 was filled, and the timing of the mayor's planning commission appointment.
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