East Carbon City Council held a special public comments session before their usual meeting Tuesday in the East Carbon City Hall.
The session was to hear from the public and rural development specialist Jay Mashburn about plans to fix the city’s water budget.
Mashburn came before the Council with many concerns; his plan had seven points in it. It will currently take a raise in the current rate to $24 to balance the budget in five years. He suggested focusing on engineering ways to manage water storage and usage at the plant versus additional buildings.
The Council asked Mashburn to show what the budget would look like if they raised the rate by the same percentage each year to get to the same outcome. His original plan was to raise it by 34% the first year and 2% each subsequent year to keep up with inflation.
Mashburn also introduced a plan for setting up a lifeline program that would provide a viable water bill for fixed, low-income households.
A citizen asked if the city was in a position to lose money on the lifeline project.В Councilmen offered that this was just an option that the City could use to help those in that situation.