CU rate increase narrowly passes

At the Oct. 18 meeting, council suspended the rules to extend the public hearing on the rate increases. The 11 area residents who spoke Monday night were as divided in their arguments for and against the bill as council members themselves. For public speakers, however, the balance leaned towards denying the increase, with six voicing their opposition and five speaking in the bill’s favor.

“I know, as a small business owner, I made huge cuts and sacrifices for my business to keep going and I would hope CU would do the same,” said Dennis Cox, co-owner of Cox Auto Group.

Council members Cindy Rushefsky, Nicholas Ibarra, Doug Burlison and Dan Chiles all cast dissenting votes, each expressing different concerns with the increases. Burlison acknowledged his vote wouldn’t be well received by CU but insisted that his decision was based on how impressed he was with the staff at CU.

“If anyone has the capability of working through this and doing the best they can with the least detriment to the community, it’s the folks at City Utilities,” Burlison said.

CU customers can expect residential rates to increase by 7 percent over three years, with the first, 3 percent increase to take effect in October 2011. Commercial customers will see rate increases between 2.5 and 7 percent during the same time frame.

Read more about the Oct. 18 City Council meeting in Springfield Business Journal’s Oct. 25 print edition.