{"id":9437,"date":"2025-11-13T16:41:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T20:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=9437"},"modified":"2025-11-13T16:44:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T20:44:06","slug":"queens-water-rate-ask-still-unreasonable-unjust-and-unprecedented-despite-reworked-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2025\/11\/13\/queens-water-rate-ask-still-unreasonable-unjust-and-unprecedented-despite-reworked-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens water rate ask still &#8216;unreasonable, unjust and unprecedented&#8217; despite reworked numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_9442\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9442\" class=\"size-large wp-image-9442\" src=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/daan-mooij-91LGCVN5SAI-unsplash-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/daan-mooij-91LGCVN5SAI-unsplash-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/daan-mooij-91LGCVN5SAI-unsplash-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/daan-mooij-91LGCVN5SAI-unsplash-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/daan-mooij-91LGCVN5SAI-unsplash-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-9442\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Region of Queens is asking for a lower immediate rise in water rates. (Daan Mooij via Unsplash)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Region of Queens is no longer asking for an immediate 106 per cent increase in water rates.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But customers will still have to pay about 115 per cent more over three years if the municipality\u2019s application to the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board is successful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In documents filed with the board on Nov. 7, the region is now asking for a 43 per cent increase in the first year for the 1,200 water utility customers in Liverpool and Brooklyn. The region has diverted about $1.6 million in budget reserves to blunt the first-year increase and spread it over a longer period.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe utility did not get in its present state overnight and it cannot be restored to its proper efficient and effective state overnight, but the process has started, and it needs a sustainable rate structure to accomplish this,\u201d Willa Thorpe, the region\u2019s chief administrative officer, wrote in the revised rate hike request.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIf the current underfunding is not addressed now it just pushes the problem forward and adds unnecessary debt payments for future customers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/regionwaterutilityresponsenov7.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read the region&#8217;s submission to the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/qchbwaterrateevidenceoct8.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read the Queens Community Health Board&#8217;s submission to the regulatory board<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before the region filed its revised rate hike request, the Queens Community Health Board filed a comprehensive objection to the planned increases, calling them \u201cunreasonable, unjust and unprecedented\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The board is the only registered intervenor in the hearing, though it has letters of support from the Queens County Food Bank, Liverpool Curling Club, Queens Transit and the Queens Care Society.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Board chair Tara Druzina told QCCR this week that many people can\u2019t afford to pay up to an extra $461 a year for water services.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI think the perspective of the community health board is the shock of the increase that is coming forward,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe municipality does need to run a balanced utility and we&#8217;re aware of that. It&#8217;s just that the 115ish per cent over three years, while there&#8217;s such a large percentage of water loss, is this concerning part we have, particularly for our vulnerable residents.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The board will hold a public hearing on the region\u2019s water rate request on Wed., Nov. 19 at 10:30 a.m. in council chambers at the region\u2019s offices on White Point Road.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Druzina said it\u2019s important for residents to have their say at the hearing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe board members, like at a council meeting, need to know the perspective of the community impacted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Anybody can speak at the hearing, but you must notify the board by Fri., Nov. 14, by email at <\/span><a href=\"mailto:board@novascotia.ca\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">board@novascotia.ca<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, by phone at 902-424-1333 or 1-844-809-0010. You can also send written comments to the board by email or by sending a letter to the Clerk of the Board at P.O. Box 1692, Unit \u201cM\u201d, Halifax, NS B3J 3S3 by Nov. 14.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The region says it needs to raise rates by more than 100 per cent to deal with an $800,000 deficit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The utility has operated at a loss for five consecutive years, since 2020. It\u2019s also been struggling to keep a lid on significant leaks in the system, losing up to 69 per cent of its water each year through faulty water mains and other unrepaired damage. In a 2024 study commissioned by the region, consultants said that leakage rate placed it in the &#8220;worst&#8221; category compared to other utilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe people of Queens County face a choice made by others: pay dramatically more for a service that wastes two-thirds of its water or fight for regulatory protection,\u201d the health board wrote in its submission.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe (regulatory) board has both the authority and the obligation to protect ratepayers from this injustice while ensuring utility viability. We recognize the challenges faced by small rural utilities. However, four years of declining performance despite board direction and significant spending demonstrates problems beyond normal operational difficulties. We are not asking the board to let the utility fail. We are asking the board to protect the people of Queens County from bearing the full cost of that failure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The community health board points to the utility buying used water meters from Halifax that were already past their prime, staffing shortages, improper oversight and the ongoing system leaks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The health board wants the provincial regulator to approve a 15 to 20 per cent increase and impose mandatory targets to reduce system leaks: 10 per cent reductions a year by 2028, with a long-term reduction goal to the industry standard of 30 per cent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a letter to the regulatory board after the region\u2019s revised rate request, Druzina says the lower proposed hike in the first year is better, but \u201cwithout binding performance accountability measures, however, it does not address the operational failures that created this crisis or prevent recurrence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And she says the region\u2019s recently approved $200 utility assistance rebate for those on low incomes is \u201cinsufficient and unsustainable\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a county with a 31.5 per cent child poverty rate and where more than 30 per cent of residents are over 65, Druzina says even with the rebate, people will struggle to cope with a 43 per cent immediate increase.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Recent decisions by the regulatory board have approved water rate increases of up to 17.8 per cent in Sherbrooke on Nova Scotia\u2019s Eastern Shore and 7.2 per cent over two years for Halifax.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Queens proposal \u201crepresents the largest rate increase request in documented Nova Scotia regulatory history\u201d, Druzina writes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In addition to an interim hike of no more than 15 to 20 per cent, the health board wants future increases tied to reducing the water wasted through leaks in the system. It also wants the provincial regulator to order an independent system audit and quarterly public reporting, and to require a performance-based rate plan with accountability measures.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Email: <a href=\"mailto:rickconradqccr@gmail.com\">rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Listen to the audio version of this story below<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-9437-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/queenshealthboardwaterhikesnov1325.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/queenshealthboardwaterhikesnov1325.mp3\">https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/queenshealthboardwaterhikesnov1325.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Region of Queens is no longer asking for an immediate 106 per cent increase in water rates. But customers will still have to pay about 115 per cent more over three years if the municipality\u2019s application to the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board is successful. In documents filed with the board on Nov. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[48,39,3232,1830,24,1374,2983,1153,2613,3564,366,3468,1734,3064],"class_list":["post-9437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-brooklyn","tag-liverpool","tag-nova-scotia-regulatory-and-appeals-board","tag-queens-community-health-board","tag-region-of-queens","tag-region-of-queens-water-utility","tag-tara-druzina","tag-water","tag-water-customers","tag-water-rate-increases","tag-water-rates","tag-water-system","tag-water-utility","tag-willa-thorpe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9437"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9443,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9437\/revisions\/9443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}