Winona City Officals: “We Didn’t Want to Increase the Utility Rates”

WINONA � Officials are responding after reports surfaced about the city of Winona’s failure to pay its utility bills, putting the town in a financial crisis. KETK reports that after the city council voted in favor of raising the utility rates for residents, the people of Winona wanted answers. The city is struggling financially, and more than just the city’s utility bills went unpaid. The former city administrator failed to pay several bills, and on top of that, the city is now in the process of trying to fix water maintenance issues that did not meet state standards.

Mayor Rusty Smith says city officials are doing everything in their power to make this all right. It is the responsibility of the city administrator to pay the bills for the city of Winona. This past February, he resigned, bringing several problems to the attention of the mayor and council members. “That’s when we found out about the bills not getting paid,” said Mayor Pro Tem Michael Jones, “the solid waste bill, trash pickup, and the employee health insurance.” So far, the city has paid the bills it owed from 2013. But it still owes more than $150,000 to its gas company, and to pay that back, the city is working to find ways to tighten the budget. “It’s like when you have a catastrophe in your family, you know, financial hardship, you tighten your belt until you’re over the hump,” Jones said.

As for the utility rate increase that has many residents concerned, the city says it has nothing to do with their outstanding bills. Instead, they say it is to help the city update its wastewater system to meet state standards. “In order to do the maintenance that needs to be done, maintenance we found out has not been being done over the last few years,” said Smith, “we’ve got a lot of catch-up to do; we have to put in a rate increase.” Smith said this will be the first rate increase in more than seven years. The increase will go into effect May 1.