MCCOLL — Last Wednesday, the McColl Town Council convened an emergency meeting at the request of Mayor Robert Outlaw to discuss a proposed Utility Stabilization and Infrastructure Recovery Plan and its potential impact on the McColl town budget.
The council examined how the plan could affect the town’s still unapproved budget and its potential fiscal impact on taxpayers. Unable to reach a consensus to approve the plan, and unable to pass a budget without a plan in place to effectively manage the financial burden of utilities and sanitation, council adjourned the meeting without making any official decisions.
Dispelling rumor
The meeting began with McColl town clerk Tammie Goff, who presented the utilities proposal to council, dispelling recent rumor of a pending $25 increase in the water bills of McColl residents.
She said, “That is not the case. That was just somebody trying to bring a solution to the table. The whole story wasn’t told; it was just conversation and not voted on.”
After Ms. Goff spoke, the council emphasized the importance of residents not relying on social media for their information, instead they encouraged residents to attend meetings in person.
Goff went on to say when working on the utilities plan, she kept her eyes on the town budget, concentrating on finding solutions for how best to repair the town financially, while still supplying quality utilities services to the residents of McColl.
Presenting McColl’s Utility Stabilization and Infrastructure Recovery Plan
“The purpose of this presentation is to explain the current financial challenges facing our utilities and sanitation systems. The operational issues contributing to those challenges and the proposed steps to stabilize services while protecting the majority of our residents. This plan was designed with a focus on fairness, long-term sustainability, operational accountability in mind, and avoiding emergency increases in the future,” Goff explained.
According to information shared by Goff, the town of McColl is currently facing an approximate $320,000 operational deficit in the areas of utilities and sanitation.
“Several factors have contributed to this situation over time, including aging infrastructure, inaccurate or broken meters, rising operational costs, sanitation operating losses, inflation, and rates that have remained stagnant over the years despite increasing expenses,” Goff said; clarifying the goal of the proposal is to responsibly ease the monetary burden on customers while preventing the need for emergency increases in future billing.
“We currently have approximately 150 inaccurate or broken meters throughout the system. That means some customers are not being billed based on their actual usage. At the same time, the town has continued experiencing increases in fuel costs, labor costs, maintenance expenses, and infrastructure demands,” Goff said, adding that sanitation is operating at “low-cost recovery.”
She issued a dire warning that if the town fails to swiftly address its utility and sanitation challenges, McColl’s operational deficit will continue to grow, resulting in sudden billing hikes, reduced service quality, and emergency infrastructure failures.
Step 1: Fixing broken and inaccurate meters
Goff was pleased to announce McColl’s plan to replace roughly 200 broken or inaccurate water meters with donated meters from the city of Bennettsville, who recently upgraded their system.
She said, “This portion of the proposal is not a rate increase. This is simply correcting inaccurate billing caused by nonfunctioning equipment to make sure our customers are billed fairly while reducing the direct cost to the town of McColl.”
When asked later, Bennettsville City Administrator William Simon Jr. said he heard of McColl’s meter reading plight in the news and was desirous to help, however, he said his office had already been contacted by that of McColl’s proactive mayor when he decided to assist.
“They reached out for a meeting, we had a very good meeting,” Simon said regarding his conference with Bennettsville Mayor Tyron Abraham, McColl Mayor Outlaw, and their respective staff. He continued, “We told them we would donate as many meters as they need, so they come by once a week and get about 40 to 50 meters or so at a time and go back and install them. We are all in this together and Bennettsville is happy to help a neighboring community any time and in any way that it can. This is a great thing for McColl at no cost.”
Simon says Bennettsville currently has 600 spare water meters at McColl’s disposal. The town of McColl will use in-house labor to install the meters over the next two to three months, and Goff says the project represents $20,000 in material value.
Tier Rate Structure for Water and Sewer
“Under this proposal, the existing base rate for lower usage households remains in place. Those using higher amounts of water would move into additional usage tiers. The reason for this structure is simple, higher usage creates greater demands on both water delivery and sewage treatment systems,” Goff explained.
Under the proposed rate tier, Goff says a business or residence using 2,000 gallons per month currently pays $56 and under the proposed utilities plan would now jump to $65 a month, a difference of $9.
Also under the proposal, a business or residence currently using 4,000 gallons of water per month is paying $75 and will now pay $89 monthly, a difference of $14.
For those using 7,000 gallons a month of water in McColl, their current rate of $102 will spike to $134 under the proposed plan, a difference of $32.
Goff said 64% of McColl residents are low-use customers, meaning most households will see only a minor increase in their bills. The remaining 36% fall into the high-usage category.
Infrastructure Stabilization Fee
The town’s proposed Utility Stabilization and Infrastructure Recovery Plan includes a $4 stabilization fee, designed to support McColl’s aging infrastructure, maintenance needs, emergency repairs, and long-term system sustainability.
“This fee is not intended to generate a surplus of revenue, it is intended to stabilize essential utility operations and reduce the likelihood of larger emergency increases in the future,” Goff explained.
Sanitation Adjustment
Currently, residents in McColl pay $19 monthly for sanitation service, operating well below cost recovery, according to Goff. She says residents can expect their monthly bill to increase by $5, totaling $24 a month, under the proposed plan.
“This adjustment is intended strictly for operational sustainability and cost recovery, not profit generation,” Goff said.
In closing
Goff says the proposed plan is expected to correct underbilling caused by inaccurate or failing equipment, protect low-use customers where possible, improve McColl’s overall long-term system stability, and reduce the likelihood of emergency billing increases or catastrophic damage to infrastructure caused by neglect. She clarified that all estimates discussed under the plan are based off current operational data and usage patterns. Goff said actual impacts may vary based on individual household usage.
Council discussion
Councilwoman Lorraine Sampson said she felt customers who have previously entered contracted billing arrangements with the city of McColl should have their contracts honored, with the caveat that these customers must be currently and continuously paying their contracted monthly amount.
“When they make that payment arrangement, I do not feel like it is right for the town to come back and say, ‘Oh no, no, no, we are not going to do that,” Sampson said.
McColl Town Treasurer Tameka McLain agreed that Goff entered into contracted payment schedules with residents who are behind in paying, however, she pointed out that Ms. Goff has been calling those residents and reminding them they only have so long to satisfy their debt in full based upon their agreed scheduled payment completion dates.
Councilman Gerald Locklear said he felt Goff and McLain must be doing something right as Goff shared with the council that thanks to the payment plans, $75,000 in delinquent payments has been recouped by the town to date.
Wanting more time to review the proposal, council adjourned the emergency session without taking a vote. The council also did not decide on the proposed budget since action on utilities and sanitation must be taken prior to finalizing the budget.
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