MESQUITE (WBAP/KLIF)- Thirteen North Texas cities end their decades long water contract plan for a more reasonably priced rate structure from the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD).
These cities, north and east of Dallas, were on a ‘take or pay’ water rate structure, that’s been in effect since 1953.
The system used the year of highest usage to establish how much water to bill the cities, which include: Allen, Farmersville, Forney, Garland, Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Mesquite, Richardson, Princeton, Rockwall, Royse City, and Wylie.
“All thirteen of those cities had to come to an agreement in order to change this methodology. It took several years of effort to get everyone to come together because any change was going to have a significant impact on each community,” said Cliff Keheley, City Manager for the City of Mesquite.
Keheley said the old method was outdated and it was inconsistent with water conservation and not in the public interest. 
“Water rates have been increasing over the past decade of levels 8%, 10% and 12% and that was due to the increasing costs to produce water in North Texas,” he said.
Keheley said Mesquite residents have been asking for some sort of relief.
With the new water rate structure, residents will pay a wholesale rate of the rolling average of actual consumption.
“This new agreement will level out Mesquite water utility customers’ rates. Our local system is growing and aging, and the need to fund our system is a priority and the new methodology will allow us to better control our rates to ensure our system meets the needs of our customers. This was a long process and required compromise. I appreciate the efforts of those city leaders to spend the time and effort to develop a methodology that works for the long term benefit of the district.”
Keheley shared the no rate increases for Mesquite customers was also in part to NTMWD’s efforts to evaluate its costs and not increase their wholesale water rates, which have been the primary factor in Mesquite’s rate increases in past years. He said, “The NTMWD Board has made significant efforts over the past few years to realize the impacts of rate increases on water customers. By passing a budget with no increases, they have made a significant impact on the citizens of Mesquite. We look forward to a stronger and better partnership with the NTMWD.”
This new rate will be phased in over the next eight years.
