REHOBOTH BEACH, Del - A proposed change in the structure of Rehoboth Beach's utility rates could mean year-round residents will pay for water used by those who live in the city part time during the summer months. This Saturday at 10 a.m., the Rehoboth Commissioners will hold a town hall to review the plan. Currently residents billing is based on two rates, the warm weather months of peak season with significantly more people using water resources within the city limits and non-peak. "You are taking money from the year-round residents and actually making them pay more," one of those year-round residents Jennifer Duncan said. "The peak (only) residents during the season pay much less." If the proposal is approved by the city commissioners, both residents and businesses will be charged the same rate of $14.70 for every 1,000 gallons of wastewater and $6.30 for every 1,000 gallons of water. The rate increase will help pay down debt including the $40 million the city owes the state of Delaware for the outfall project. "We have had a lot of deferred maintenance over the years," Rehoboth Beach Mayor Paul Kuhns explained. "That is coming to fruition that we need to do work on both the waste water plant as well as the water infrastructure over the next five to six years." The city would like to have a new utility plan in place in time for the next quarterly billing cycle. To review the proposal click
here.