{"id":8863,"date":"2025-06-23T15:01:45","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T18:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=8863"},"modified":"2025-06-23T15:02:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T18:02:20","slug":"water-rates-could-double-for-liverpool-brooklyn-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2025\/06\/23\/water-rates-could-double-for-liverpool-brooklyn-customers\/","title":{"rendered":"Water rates could double for Liverpool, Brooklyn customers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Customers of the Region of Queens Water Utility will see their rates rise. (Kawita Chitprathak via Pixabay)<\/p><\/div>\n

Municipal water customers in Liverpool and Brooklyn could see their rates double.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Region of Queens is almost ready to submit its water rate application to the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board.<\/span><\/p>\n

Councillors are set to discuss a report from senior staff at their meeting on Tuesday evening.<\/span><\/p>\n

2021 was the last time rates for the region\u2019s water utility were reviewed. They were set for the following three years until 2024. The region has been holding the line on rates since then, but it has racked up a deficit of about $516,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

If rates don\u2019t increase, the water utility\u2019s deficit is projected to swell to $3.344 million by 2027\/28.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a three-year water rate study done by G.A. Eisnor Consulting Limited and Blaine S. Rooney Consulting Limited, the utility needs revenues to jump immediately by more than $1.6 million to stem the tide of rising deficits.<\/span><\/p>\n

The staff report for council prepared by Adam Grant, director of infrastructure, and Joanne Veinotte, director of finance, blames the heavy damage sustained at the water treatment plant by a lightning strike in July 2023. An insurance claim partially covered the damage, according to the report.<\/span><\/p>\n