Crawford County Looking to Pay Off Water Debt

ROBERTA, Georgia (41 NBC/WMGT) – Officials in Crawford County are trying to pay down debt for their water system.

Tuesday night, plans moved forward to reduce the 3 million dollar water debt that began in 2009.

It was supposed to be paid for by the customers using water in the area.

That didn’t happen.

County officials want to refinance and shorten the loan given to the water enterprise.

That would save the county $2 million and allow half of the SPLOST money in 2015 to pay for the remaining debt.

County Manager Pat Kelly told 41 NBC what would happen if the county pays off it’s water debt in a shorter amount of time.

“The water enterprise will actually make money, they could use those moneys to extend water lines, or transfer back to the general funds where those moneys could be used for whatever the governing authority thought would be the best use for them,” Kelly said.

The current plan makes customers pay a $20 hydrant fee every year on their tax bill.

In November, there will be an election to decide on what to do about the water debt.

When the 2015 SPLOST begins,  Kelly’s proposal has hydrant fees taken out of customer’s bills.