WESTLAKE — If Westlake is to get its financial house back in order this year, residents will have to endure significant increases in utility rates.

It was a sobering message Mayor Bob Hardey and the City Council brought to residents Monday, as they announced a 50 percent hike in water, gas and sewer rates, which will take effect this month. The announcement came during a special meeting of the City Council.

Hardey estimated that residents will see a rate increase of between $40 to $60 in their utility bills this year.

“This is odd,” Hardey said to more than 40 residents who packed the council chambers. “But we’re here to tell you we’re going to fix our problem. We’ll get it right, but this is the first step.”

Residents who attended the meeting were given a letter from city officials that outlined Westlake’s financial woes, including an outstanding debt of $14.4 million from 2013.

David Medlin, an accountant with Government Consulting Inc., a Baton Rouge advisory firm city officials hired to examine its books, went over the city’s letter with residents, telling them that raising utility rates this year was one of the “very few options” local officials had to bring in revenue.

“Your city is in a very difficult position,” Medlin said. “You’re not raising enough revenues on an annual basis, and you’ve pretty much exhausted your savings.”

When comparing Westlake’s general fund in 2004 and 2014, Medlin’s firm discovered that the city saw revenues increase 12 percent while expenses jumped 96 percent.

Westlake’s annual riverboat revenues have also declined dramatically over the past several years, dropping from $1.7 million in 2013 to $957,000 in 2014. Riverboat revenues for this year are budgeted at $592,000.

The city’s debt service payments are also wreaking havoc on the budget. Westlake’s outstanding $14.4 million debt will bring the city’s principal and interest payments to nearly $1.8 million this year.

Westlake, Medlin said, currently has an annual budget deficiency of more than $210,000. Included in making that money, he added, is the expectation that the city will sell $2 million of real estate at West Trace, a neighborhood located at the city-owned National Golf Course of Louisiana.

Real estate sales in Westlake in 2013 totaled $1.98 million, Medlin said. He added, however, that while $2 million was budgeted for real estate sales in 2014, the city only sold $42,576 in properties.

“You basically had no revenue that year with a budgeted item of $2 million in revenues, which gets spent in that budget,” Medlin said. “If that wasn’t enough, in 2015, beginning last July, another $2 million was budgeted with zero coming in this year.”

With no real estate sales coming in during the first and second quarters this year, Medlin added, Westlake’s total reserves are expected to total just $500,000 by the end of June.

Hardey said in addition to the utility rate hikes, Westlake officials will also being cracking down on those who have been delinquent on their water, sewer and gas bills. He added that there are 125 individuals and businesses inside the city limits who owe a combined total of about $100,000 in past utility bills.

“I’m not giving away utilities,” Hardey said. “Yeah, I need some flexibility, but there are businesses on Sampson Street that are not paying their water bill. We’re gonna turn them off.”

Hardey said 28 residents will receive a registered letter informing them that if they do not stay current on their monthly utility bills beginning this month and have a zero outstanding balance by June 15, their utility will be shut down. Power will be restored when their outstanding balance is paid in full.

Looking ahead, Hardey said residents can expect utility rates to increase four percent annually beginning on July 1, 2016.

In other news, council members appointed Councilman Dan Racca as mayor pro-tempore, Stephen Dwight as city attorney, Macie LeTard as city prosecutor and Brad Baker as director of public works . Andrea Mahfouz was reappointed as city clerk.

Council members also appointed James “J.C.” Cormier as Westlake’s representative on the West Calcasieu Parish Community Center Authority board of directors, and Kenneth Racca, Nelda Lewis, Cynthia Guillory, Jerry Guillory and Sharmita Rideau to the city’s variance board.

Members also appointed Charles Adams, James “J.C.” Cormier, Della Hoffpauir, Rose Gray, Ambra Reinking and Pam Shields to the city’s zoning board.

All appointments were approved unanimously.

(MGNonline)