Athens officials urged to consider sewer rate hikes

By Casey Krautkramer

Village officials in Athens were encouraged to explore the possibility of raising sewer rates for residents during an audit presentation Monday by Jackie Nielson, auditor at Kerber Rose Certified Accounting Firm.

Nielson said the village’s wastewater treatment utility is operating at a loss of $57,947, giving it a negative rate of return of 2.4 percent. She said a wastewater utility’s rate of return should be 3 or 4 percent.

“I know it’s never a popular thing to raise the sewer rate for residents, but unfortunately it’s the way of the world,” she said. “I know that the village increased its sewer rate in 2022 but it should be evaluated on an annual basis to make sure you are covering those costs.”

Other business

■ The board approved a revised three-year lease with Trinity Lutheran Church for it to operate a daycare in the former village municipal hall and library, which has been renovated.

■ Board members agreed to sell the village’s old police squad car for $9,375.

■ Karen Hurd, candidate for the state’s 69th Assembly District, attended Monday’s board meeting to introduce herself. Hurd is currently serving a two-year term in the 68th Assembly, but recently moved from Fall Creek to Clark County to run in the 69th after the redistricting of state legislative maps.

Hurd said she supports MOE (Maintenance of Effort) reporting, which municipalities and counties must submit to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue each year. She said the city of Milwaukee requested the state legislature bail it out from bankruptcy. Hurd said Milwaukee has its own retirement pension for its government employees, instead of utilizing the state retirement pension, which is why the city has gone bankrupt. Hurd said the MOE ensures that Milwaukee doesn’t cut emergency personnel like police and firefighters in order to fund its retirement pension.