by Megan Schiffres
KILMARNOCK—The Kilmarnock town council on December 17 voted unanimously (6-0) to postpone a proposed utility rate increase, pending a public hearing in January.
During committee meetings on December 6, members Rebecca Nunn, Keith Butler, Les Spivey, Michael Sutherland and mayor Mae Umphlett voted against recommending a public hearing on the rate increase, but a packed chamber Monday night appeared to convince council to give the public an opportunity to comment on the issue.
The proposed increase would raise the combined base rate of residential water and wastewater utility services in Kilmarnock by $5 in 2019, and increase commercial utility base rates by $10. The amount of water and wastewater that customers pay the base utility rate on would increase by a thousand gallons.
For every thousand gallons…