After rising 20% since 2009, water rates will drop 5% at the start of next month. The Water Authority Council decided today to raise the planned price reduction from 3% to 5%, following an investigation of costs, and hearing the objections of the water corporations. There are 52 water corporations in Israel, which serve 300 municipalities and local authorities.
Water rates will thus drop 5% on January 1, and another reduction is expected to go into effect on May 1, 2015, as part of Minister of Finance Yair Lapid’s reform of the water corporations, and the reduction of their expenses. Water rates are meant to drop a total of 5% by the end of 2015 as part of the reform.
The Water Authority said: “It is important to emphasize that this process is in parallel to the activities of the Water Authority, the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, and the Ministry of Finance, which are forcing the water corporations and providers into further streamlining by reducing the number of corporations, in order to continue to reduce prices in the water sector. Reducing costs leads to a reduction in water rates (which legally must reflect cost). It is also important to note that the professional jobs done by the water corporations, in replacing infrastructure, reducing waste, and more, are what has made it possible to reduce the amount of desalinated water used, otherwise, water rates would only rise.”
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Water Authority Director and Committee Chairman Alexander Kushnir said: “This process will lead to real change for the water and sewage sectors overall, and for the individual consumers, and it is made possible by the professional reforms made by the Water Authority - reforms that stabilized the water sector. I am convinced that also next year we will be able to advance further steps to improve the efficiency of all the players in the water sector, and to bring about a further reduction in the rates for consumers. This is a trend reversal. The reduction in water prices is another step in the Water Authority’s recent activities, whose goal is to make things easier for the consumers, and to improve the level of service that consumers receive for their money.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 12, 2013
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