Pouce Coupe village council has voted to raise their water rates 27 per cent.

The move was meant to bring the village in line with increased costs from Dawson Creek, which provides the village its water, said Michael McPhail, Pouce Coupe's administrative officer.

"We need to make it balanced," he added.

Now, village residents will have to pay $93.55 for consuming up to 6,000 gallons. Rates over this 6,000 gallons will be $12.50 for every 1,000 gallons.

Presently, village residents are charged approximately $73 quarterly for consumption of up to and including 6,000 gallons. Residents who used more than 6,000 gallons are charged approximately $9.80 for every 1,000 gallons over the 6,000 gallons each quarter.

McPhail said that the rate agreement, which was signed earlier in 2010, is going to take effect this year and that residents can expect an increase in the water bill that is expected to come out on March 31.

Commercial users will also have to pay more for water. They will also have to pay $93.55 for water up to 6,000 gallons. They will have to pay $18.72 for every 1,000 gallons of water between 6,001 and 60,000 gallons, and $10.90 for every 1,000 gallons they use over 60,000 gallons.

McPhail said all other water charges, such as initial connection fees, meter testing fees, and others, remain the same.

Dawson Creek also recently voted to change the amount of money Pouce Coupe pays to Dawson Creek for water infrastructure.

Previously, Pouce Coupe would give a certain amount of money to Dawson Creek for infrastructure costs based on a certain formula. This formula would divide the amount of water used by Pouce Coupe by the amount of total filtered water for the city, and multiplied by capital costs.

City staff recommended that that would be changed to "a more equitable, stable formula."

This new formula would treat Pouce Coupe like any other customer. City residents pay an infrastructure charge based on how big their water meter and water line size is. This would mean that the village would only pay approximately $9,100 every year. Under the old formula, these costs varied from year to year, going as high as approximately $31,800 in 2006 to approximately $5,400 in 2009.

While the change will mean Pouce Coupe will give less money to the City, Pouce Coupe will have more stability for budgeting, according to information provided to council.

The decision was made by Dawson Creek City Council last Monday.