By Billy Davis

Water.

Crenshaw aldermen have been advised, for more than three years, that revenue from residents’ water bills helps the cash-strapped town government survive.

And Crenshaw is still surviving, but just barely. Town government, after a 10-month period, ended July $5,337 above its budgeted expenditures, financial consultant Lygunnah Bean reported last week. Revenues were $709 below budget.

“The cash flow is running tight,” Bean said at the August 6 board meeting.

Water bills and court fines are keeping the town in the black, Bean, who has warned repeatedly about the importance of water bills, went on to explain.

Now Crenshaw’s mayor and aldermen have cushioned town finances just a bit: the little town’s seven churches will start paying monthly water bills and weekly garbage service October 1.

Town aldermen, at the August board meeting, unanimously approved the new payments.

The suggestion came from Town Clerk Renee Ward, who had attended a municipal seminar in which it was stated that all utility customers must pay for the service. Ward also urged aldermen to approve the payments because the town’s finances are teetering toward bankruptcy.  

“Our money is terrible,” she told Mayor Oscar Barlow and the Board of Aldermen.

“It’s not terrible,” an alderman, who could not be identified, replied.

“No, I need you to understand that,” Ward said. “It’s terrible.”

Ward has served as town clerk under the previous administration and is widely credited for helping balance town government’s finances.

Her suggestions have become more vocal since Barlow entered office 13 months ago.

Ward went on to get permission for town government to seek help from the Miss. Rural Water Association. A consultant will evaluate water usage at two apartment buildings, Crenshaw Manor and Marie Lyles Meadows, and report the findings to town government.

The owners of both buildings currently pay a flat monthly fee, totaling $2,668, for water consumption.

Ward suggested the flat fee is “unfair,” since individual homes and businesses pay according to usage.

“They should be paying like everybody else,” she said.

The allowance of a flat fee is especially ironic in Crenshaw. Town residents voiced objections several years ago when town government announced, per state law, that it could no longer allow flat fees for water usage.

Residents’ backlash was aimed at Barlow, who lost a re-election bid some time later.

Also at last week’s meeting, town aldermen unanimously turned down a third request from Ward, voting down her suggestion to raise the town’s water rate.

Ward shared figures that showed Crenshaw’s water rate is below neighbor Como. For 3,000 gallons of water usage, Como would charge $30 while Crenshaw would charge only $18, Ward said.

The town clerk also noted that Como assesses five dollars per water bill to pay for postage and printing costs.

“Our postage is $240 a month,” she said. But aldermen voted, without comment, to keep the current rates.

After the board vote, town attorney Tommy Shuler said the Rural Water Association suggests raising water rates slowly instead of raising them dramatically after a long period.