KENDALL COUNTY, TX – Water rates are now double in nine subdivisions of Kendall County just outside Boerne as a new utility company takes over operations.
Before Thursday, Kendall West Utility customers paid an extra $4.72 per extra 1,000 gallons over the water allotment. Now, the price jumps to $8.95. The base monthly rate doubles as well.
Some homeowners haven’t given up the fight against the rate hike even though the water’s now pumping.
"The water is flowing,” John Mark Matkin with Kendall West Utility says. “It will be here from now until the day is done."
And one day, Matkin says the tank will pump water straight from the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority.
"This tank will go up and down all day,” he says.
Until then, Kendall West Utility is tapping into the city of Boerne’s water supply.
"This is where we made our tap,” Matkin says while pointing to a pipe in the ground.
Rates have doubled to pay for the upgrades.
Tempers flared during a September town hall meeting over the hike, and dozens signed a petition of protest.
Matkin says he hasn't heard a word about the petition since that night.
Meanwhile, several homeowners News 4 spoke with Thursday say they've each written letters to the state complaining about the new rates.
"I'm writing as a senior citizen to protest the horrible rate increases,” homeowner Mary Pritchett reads aloud from her letter.
She says her neighbors are mostly seniors on fixed incomes.
"We've got water,” Pritchett says while turning on her kitchen sink faucet. “No different than it was before."
She says they can’t afford to pay double but now have no choice.
"It's like anything else,” Pritchett says. “If you don't pay the bill you can scream all you want to scream and they don't care."
As for those letters, Matkin says if the state does decide to intervene, he’ll cooperate.
"We'll do it,” he says. “We'll do whatever is necessary to be able to make sure the rates are appropriate."
