Information

Rate Increases

First a little history - the well that supplies our water is owned by Mid-Colorado Investment Company, Inc. (MCI) Sage Water Users (SWUA) owns the distribution system that carries water to our homes. For many years, MCI agreed to not increase the cost of water to SWUA which was  beneficial to us, but as we know expenses have risen over the years. In 2021, MCI requested that SWUA return to the original contract which stipulated that SWUA use the Colorado Springs Outside City Limits rates to determine the price for purchasing water.

In response to this request, SWUA appointed a committee of homeowners in our association to review the contract and make a recommendation to the board. As a result of the committee’s recommendations, the board then negotiated with MCI. (Minutes of the meetings are available on the Sage Water website – www.sagewater.org)

MCI agreed to make three initial improvements: 1. MCI would install two new generators to ensure there is continual water flow in case of loss of electricity. 2. MCI would install new pumps to better maintain consistent water pressure. 3. MCI would install a 300,000 gallon cistern for storage.  As these improvements were made, SWUA agreed to increase the amount of payment to MCI. These increases to MCI meant a rate increase to homeowners.

Increases were to be implemented approximately every year as each improvement was  completed. However, this agreement and dates for improvements were agreed to before COVID which significantly impacted production and shipping.

Fortunately, the generators and pumps are ready for installation and will be completed soon. THE FIRST RENOVATIONS ARE TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 11. WATER WILL BE TURNED OFF OVERNIGHT. WE WILL CONFIRM THIS DATE AND TIMES AS WE GET CLOSER.

Currently our bill consists of three parts: a commodity charge, a customer charge, and a maintenance fee.  The commodity charge is for actual water used and billed at a rate of either $6.75 per ccf for usage under 1400 ccf and $7.75 per ccf for usage over 1400 ccf. This will increase to $7.09 for usage under 1400 ccf and $8.09 for usage over 1400 ccf. The second part is a customer charge. Currently this charge is $23.50. It will increase to $24.68.  The commodity charge and the customer charge are added together and show up on the bill as ‘Water”.  The third part of the bill is a maintenance fee of $20.