Poultry growers question the fairness

Two poultry growers are questioning the fairness of a capacity, (impact) fee that Pioneer Rural Water District charges.  Stacy Foster and Don Burns spoke yesterday at a meeting ofPioneer’s board of directors.  The capacity fee has been charged since 2008, but Foster recommended Pioneer do more to educate everyone about the fee and why it’s necessary.  At yesterday’s meeting, he got an explanation from General Manager Terry Pruitt and from Donald Phillips of Pioneer’s consultant company Design South.  According to Pruitt, the fees collected offset the costs to extend water to new customers. Pruitt says it would be unfair to raise the rates of existing customers to pay for new ones. Otherwise, Pioneer would be forced to borrow money and incur debt to expand.  But Foster said poultry growers are boxed in.  He says their buyers won’t pay more for their product.