With warmer temperatures beginning to arrive at the same time as the new proposed water rates, some Ames residents aren’t happy with what may result.

While some residents aren’t pleased with the proposal, the new water rate structure has been designed to make people pay attention to particular patterns of usage, said John Dunn, director of water and pollution control for Ames.

“Our goal is not to see another penny of revenue,” he said. “The purpose is to try and reduce summer peak usage.”

At the last City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 22, Ames resident Dennis Vajgrt spoke on behalf of Water’s Edge Townhomes for the proposed changes to the irrigation water rate.

“We had a third party come up with proposed figures for this summer based on the new rates,” he said. “The result was a 390 percent increase in what we would pay. We also had our math verified by the water services director.”

The changes to the water rates have been discussed for the last few months by Dunn and the City Council. The proposed changes would significantly impact irrigation accounts.

“The changed rate would start at about one-and-a-half times the current rate,” Dunn said. “Larger usage by customers will see increases somewhere between three and four times the normal rate.”

Having his math confirmed by Dunn fails to put Vajgrt at ease.

“I just feel that a 390 percent increase is onerous for any group of users,” he said.

What makes Vajgrt’s group particularly uneasy is the configuration of their irrigation meters.

“The big problem is we have 26 housing units going through two irrigation meters,” Vajgrt said. “The lower-tiered rates for irrigation get used up fast, which puts us in the higher cost rate real fast.”

Having 28 houses connected to two meters means the average water use per meter is 14 times the average water use per house.

Dunn explained the homeowner’s situation.

“Firstly, from a workability point of view, our billing software can’t meet the adjustments needed for certain types of accounts like that,” he said. “Secondly, there are large numbers of lawns being irrigated. Their account is on the upper end in terms of water used. It seems appropriate they are contributing at a higher percentage.”

One benefit larger groups like the townhomes have is the ability to split the bill.

“If you divide the new numbers they came up with by the number of units they have, the amount everyone would have to pay comes down to a manageable number,” Dunn said. “It’s not a huge dollar impact.”

Vajgrt still wants the council to recognize their group’s situation.

“There ought to be some way to recognize groups of multiple units sharing meters,” he said. “This problem is only going to get worse.”