Contract awarded to expand water plant in Anderson
The board on Tuesday awarded a contract in the amount of $6,016,000 to Patterson Horth to expand the water treatment plant from a capacity of 10 million gallons per day to 14 million.
The engineer's estimate on the work was $6.5 million.
Work is expected to start in August, according to Neal McKee, superintendent of the water department.
The expansion of the plant is expected to be completed in one year.
The city is planning to issue $130 million in bonds over the next three years to upgrade the water system.
The council has already approved $9 million in American Rescue Plan funds, and the Anderson Redevelopment Commission is providing $19 million toward the project.
All the work is scheduled to be completed by September 2029, with the initial phase starting this year.
Included in the first bond is the beginning of a process to replace lead service lines in several neighborhoods and at scattered sites. It also includes the development of two new wells north of the city that will involve a new line to the Lafayette treatment plant and a new transmission line from Cross Street to the water tank on Eighth Street.
The Anderson City Council has approved a rate increase for the water department. The increase is pending before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
The last water rate increase was approved by the state in 2015.
If approved, the monthly rate for an average residential customer is expected to increase from $23.51 to $55.25 starting in 2029.
Large customers of the water utility will see an increase from an average of $117,772 monthly to an average of $434,171 starting in 2029.
A second bond, to be issued in 2026, will be used to open a new well field and treatment plant in south Anderson and close the 75-year-old Wheeler treatment plant.
The final bond issue in 2027 will be used to replace lead pipes in the remaining areas of Anderson.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
30-07-2025
US wants back millions in COVID relief from local governments over missing reports
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The U.S. Treasury is seeking to recoup COVID-19 pandemic relief funds from hundreds of local governments that received millions of dollars but never complied with requirements to report how they used the money. The federal government distributed $350 billion to state, local, territorial and tribal governments as part of the American Rescue Plan approved by Congress and President Joe Biden in 2021. More than 30,000 governments, from the largest state to the tiniest town, were to get a share. Governments had until the end of 2024 to obligate the money for specific projects and were supposed to file either quarterly or annual progress reports, depending on their population and how much money they received. Most complied. But as of January, about 1,000 mostly smaller governments had failed to file any reports with the Treasury detailing how they used a total of $139 million, according to an analysis by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. A GAO report released last week said the Treasury sent notices to the local governments seeking to recoup the money. As of June 24, a total of 740 local governments subsequently filed reports and will no longer be subject to repaying their funds, the Treasury said in a letter attached to the GAO report. Thirteen governments returned their funds to the Treasury. But that still left 235 local governments that had never filed a report nor returned their pandemic relief funds. The GAO told The Associated Press it does not have list of the specific governments that haven't complied with the reporting requirements. The Treasury has not responded to an AP request for a list of the 13 governments that returned their funds and those that still haven't reported how they used it. This is not the first time concerns have been raised about governments failing to disclose how they used their pandemic relief funds. The GAO reported in October 2023 that the Treasury had sent noncompliance notices to more than 3,500 local governments that hadn't filed progress reports on their pandemic relief funds. The Treasury at that time declined to provide the noncompliance letters to the AP. So the AP in January 2024 submitted a Freedom of Information Act request seeking copies of the noncompliance notices and related correspondence. The Treasury still has not fulfilled that request. In its most recent report, the GAO said the failure of local governments to file regular progress reports is limiting the Treasury's ability to determine whether they are spending the funds on allowable uses.
Hamilton Spectator
30-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
US wants back millions in COVID relief from local governments over missing reports
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The U.S. Treasury is seeking to recoup COVID-19 pandemic relief funds from hundreds of local governments that received millions of dollars but never complied with requirements to report how they used the money. The federal government distributed $350 billion to state, local, territorial and tribal governments as part of the American Rescue Plan approved by Congress and President Joe Biden in 2021. More than 30,000 governments, from the largest state to the tiniest town, were to get a share. Governments had until the end of 2024 to obligate the money for specific projects and were supposed to file either quarterly or annual progress reports , depending on their population and how much money they received. Most complied. But as of January, about 1,000 mostly smaller governments had failed to file any reports with the Treasury detailing how they used a total of $139 million, according to an analysis by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. A GAO report released last week said the Treasury sent notices to the local governments seeking to recoup the money. As of June 24, a total of 740 local governments subsequently filed reports and will no longer be subject to repaying their funds, the Treasury said in a letter attached to the GAO report. Thirteen governments returned their funds to the Treasury. But that still left 235 local governments that had never filed a report nor returned their pandemic relief funds. The GAO told The Associated Press it does not have list of the specific governments that haven't complied with the reporting requirements. The Treasury has not responded to an AP request for a list of the 13 governments that returned their funds and those that still haven't reported how they used it. This is not the first time concerns have been raised about governments failing to disclose how they used their pandemic relief funds. The GAO reported in October 2023 that the Treasury had sent noncompliance notices to more than 3,500 local governments that hadn't filed progress reports on their pandemic relief funds. The Treasury at that time declined to provide the noncompliance letters to the AP. So the AP in January 2024 submitted a Freedom of Information Act request seeking copies of the noncompliance notices and related correspondence. The Treasury still has not fulfilled that request. In its most recent report, the GAO said the failure of local governments to file regular progress reports is limiting the Treasury's ability to determine whether they are spending the funds on allowable uses. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Business Insider
23-07-2025
- Business Insider
Millions of Americans could pay up to $1,247 more for Affordable Care Act health insurance next year
Middle-class Americans have a new cost to worry about next year: Pricier health insurance premiums. A Biden-era policy expanding eligibility for Affordable Care Act subsidies is set to expire at the end of this year, and there doesn't seem to be much legislative appetite to extend it. Without those subsidies, out-of-pocket premium costs are set to go up by an average of 75% — imposing another financial burden on Americans and potentially leading to some opting out of coverage altogether. For some Americans, that could mean a $1,000 or more a year increase in health insurance. An analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that the enhanced ACA subsidies reduced net premium costs by 44% in 2024, with 93% of those enrolled in the marketplace receiving some form of premium tax credits. In 2024, around 19.3 million Americans enrolled in the marketplace received premium tax credits — the subsidy beefed up by both the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act. How much enrollees received depended on their income and the initial costs of their local plans. Miranda Yaver, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh and a healthcare fellow at the left-leaning Roosevelt Institute, said that the enhanced subsidies were a "game changer" for Americans who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but still may struggle to make ends meet. Business Insider has reported on these workers, known as ALICE or asset-limited, income-constrained, employed. They make too much to qualify for robust assistance, but still struggle to pay their bills. "If you're piecing together some better-than-minimum-wage jobs, but still hourly jobs, this means that health insurance becomes much more accessible, and that means that you can get the care you need and not have to fear as much about getting sick," Yaver said. Subsidies expanded who was eligible for ACA health insurance Some GOP legislators have argued that the policy expanded ACA eligibility too much and offered relief to higher earners while remaining costly to the country. A CBO projection found that making the policy permanent would increase the deficit by $335 billion over the next decade and reduce revenues by $60 billion. "It is particularly concerning that, by removing the income eligibility limit, some of our nation's highest earners are now eligible for government assistance," Reps. Jason Smith and Jodey Arrington, who respectively chair the House Ways and Means Committee and House Budget Committee, wrote in a 2024 letter. "In certain areas of the country, a family making as much as $599,000 in 2023 could qualify for taxpayer-funded subsidies." Before the subsidies, only Americans earning between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty line qualified, or between $15,650 and $62,600 based on the current cutoff for a single American. That 400% limit was expanded under the new structure, meaning that some Americans with ACA coverage were newly eligible to have some premium relief, especially older beneficiaries. Those who made above the 400% line, but were spending over 8.5% of their household income on premiums, became eligible for subsidies. Christen Young, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center on Health Policy, said that those newly eligible Americans saw savings of around $10,000 to $15,000 a year on their premiums. "Those are the people who are facing particularly large increases in premiums when these enhancements expire," Young said. A 2024 KFF analysis found, for instance, that Americans making $40,000, or 266% of the federal poverty line, could see their annual premiums increase by $1,247 annually. "If you take a single parent of one child earning $50,000 a year, that family is saving about $1,700 because of the enhanced premiums. They're going to see their premium increase by about 80% next year when the subsidy enhancements go away," Young said. "A family of four with a household income of $130,000, they're saving $8,000 a year with these enhancements, and they'll see their yearly premium increase by about 60 to 70% next year." When health insurance costs go up, healthy young people tend to drop coverage With the expiration looming at the end of the year and premiums expected to rise, many younger and healthier Americans may decide to opt out of coverage. This could, in turn, raise costs even more for those who remain on ACA plans. Without that younger and healthier group, it becomes more expensive to insure the remaining Americans, and costs go up across the board. "It's insurance companies correcting for the fact that the people who are going to be enrolled in their plans will probably not be as healthy," Yaver said. A projection from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that should the measures lapse, 4.2 million more Americans would be uninsured by 2034. "One of the things that is really critical to health insurance is being able to essentially spread the risk of insuring people so that we can essentially bring younger and healthier people into the insured population," Yaver said. There is a possibility that Congress could step in and extend the subsidies, although that looks unlikely, as it would have to have bipartisan approval. The potential end of the subsidies also comes as Americans face a mixed economy: The labor market is seeing shifts, but still chugging along. Inflation is creeping higher, and consumer sentiment is looking dreary — albeit not as low as it has been. "The average American would have a very difficult time accommodating an unexpected $1,000 expense. That could be a medical, dental expense, home repair, car repair, you name it," Yaver said. "It's very easy to end up spending a thousand dollars in the American healthcare system."
