Errors have been found, and are being fixed, regarding several water bills received by Teague City residents, as explained by City Administrator Theresa Prasil during a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, September 10th, 2019.
No late penalties or disconnects will be issued while the errors are being fixed.
Brent Stark of Johnson Water Supply spoke towards the errors made by his company, and how they were being corrected.
A number of the new meters were installed with registers that were too large, resulting in a higher than normal flow of water.
The company is working to fix all the registers with the proper size, replacing the installed 1” register with a 5/8th” register, which is an industry standard.
The City of Teague staff members are auditing 1,800 accounts to make sure water bills are properly adjusted.
It is imperative that water customers make sure Teague City Hall has correct contact information, in order to be kept updated on corrections on their bills.
A mathematical equation will figure out how much water the 1” register used instead of how much water the 5/8th register would have used, so that bills may be properly adjusted.
It is not required to go in and pay your bill until the accounts of been properly audited, although this might run the risk of owing two bills at once.
Thirty days from the day the problems are fixed the City will begin the disconnect notices.
If you use autopay the City recommends disabling it this month.
According to Prasil the city staff has spent well over 60 hours each during the week towards fixing these problems.
Teague Director of Works, Jacob Cowling, said “It’s a new system, gotta work the bugs out.”
Prasil is in works to have the money the city has lost in manpower, and water wasted, being compensated by the installation company.
No questions were raised from the public, or on Facebook Live, over the problems with the water meters.
Next, Prasil explained the raise in taxes, a .02 cent per $100 valuation increase, this is based on the effective tax rate, what the tax rate needs to be set at to get the same amount of taxes as the previous year, these calculations come from the Freestone County Central Appraisal District. The tax rate increased due to falling property values.
During a discussion about Bonds, Prasil explained that Teague took out a bond in 1985 to finance water & sewer works. These bonds were refinanced in 1990, with the addition of the first set of TDCJ bonds. 1993 saw another refinance and the second installment of TDCJ loans. Finally, in 2005 another refinance was made to lower interest rates.
Bonds and other public records are available to the public by making a public records request in writing.
When asked about long-term planning Prasil responded, “We are in the process of getting that constructed. We had one together, but we wanted more secure working with the engineers, and those personnel that do this to help us make sure the sustainability is actually there.”
It was explained that roads cannot be repaired if they might need to be torn up later to repair what lies underneath, the water and sewer lines.
To protect the integrity of city streets, 18-wheelers are absolutely prohibited in Teague on any road that is not a TxDot road. The only reason to be on a road that is not TxDot is to make a delivery or to go to a certified repair shop.
Other topics discussed:
–Teague Town Hall will gladly take the complaints and send them to TxDot for repairs on TxDot roads and sidewalks.
–There is a possibility of a HazMat trash day coming up.
–The proposed budget is allotting $5,000 towards a recreational events budget. They are working on a few plans to have more activities in the city with a focus on children, but will have something for all ages.
–The City of Teague is having a Logo Contest. This is your chance to win a $100 gift certificate by helping to brand your city, and have your legacy be tied into Teague’s forever.
