BEDFORD — A few months after levying several tax increases to offset the effects of a struggling economy, Bedford City Council approved a measure Tuesday that will reduce customers’ electric bills by 5 percent.
Council voted unanimously to modify a power cost adjustment ordinance that lessens an hourly charge on kilowatt usage. City Manager Charles Kolakowski said the change would lower costs on average for all electricity customers at least until early 2010, when power adjustments would next be reviewed. “We’re trying to pass on some savings,” Kolakowski said. “We realize it’s a difficult time for our customers.”
City officials had to adopt a series of tax increases in June — including a 5-cent hike on the real estate rate per $100 of assessed value — to build savings in the city’s current $53 million budget.
The ordinance to adjust power costs was created last year to allow the city to cover costs in case of sudden increases or decreases to electricity rates, Kolakowski said. A recent rate reduction and increased production at the city’s hydroelectric plant in Snowden because of recent rainfall led to the decrease, he said.
Mayor Skip Tharp said Tuesday’s modification was good news for the city’s commercial and residential power customers and “a reflection of the costs involved. It’s nothing of our doing.”
“We’ll review it again in six months,” Tharp said.
Kolakowski said a notice would soon be outgoing to notify customers of the change.
In other business:
- Council approved a resolution appointing Donald K. Thomas as the city professional assessor. Thomas is employed by Wingate Appraisal Service, a Roanoke firm that will conduct the city’s upcoming property reassessment. The appointment expires June 30, 2010, according to the resolution.
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