During a Town Hall meeting conducted by the City of Tyler, Liberty Utilities makes a major announcement about the proposed rate hike on sewer services for some Tyler and Smith County residents.

The Town Hall meeting was held at the police station at Faulkner Park and was standing room only because so many residents turned out to hear what Mayor Martin Heines, Councilman John Nix, County Judge Nathaniel Moran, County Commissioner Jeff Warr, City of Tyler Development Manager Greg Morgan and Texas State Representative Matt Schafer had to say about the proposed rate increase from Liberty Utilities, also known as Tall Timbers Sewer and Woodmark Sewer.

The meeting started out with an announcement that the proposed rate hike has been challenged by the city and that its residents would not be responsible for paying any proposed increase that they were notified about from Liberty Utilities until a hearing and investigation had been completed by them and the state.

During the meeting, Liberty Utilities released the following statement:

For Immediate Release

September 28, 2016

Liberty Utilities Enhances Its Community Outreach on Pending Texas Rate Application

Liberty Utilities has announced that it will seek to suspend the pending rate application for Liberty Utilities (Woodmark Sewer) Corp. and Liberty Utilities (Tall Timbers Sewer) Corp. until further notice.

We have heard the concerns regarding the rate increase application from our customers in Tyler and surrounding communities. We take our commitment to being a local, responsive and caring utility service provider very seriously and for this reason we will be seeking to suspend the rate filing until we can engage further with our customers, local representatives, regulators and other interested parties.

In response to the feedback already received, Liberty Utilities is committed to enhancing our community outreach plan by holding a series of public town halls. In these sessions, customers can provide their feedback and concerns for Liberty Utilities to take into consideration in determining the next steps regarding future rates and services for our customers in Tyler and surrounding communities. In addition, the public town halls will serve to provide information for our customers to gain more understanding of the investments Liberty Utilities has made over the past several years. These town halls will be held within the first couple of weeks in October and the details will be posted on our website as well as communicated with local media outlets as venues are finalized.

Liberty Utilities’ philosophy places our customers at the center of everything we do. This approach shapes our organization and how we do business. We are part of the communities we serve and we are committed to being visible and accessible. Our number one commitment is to provide clean, safe, and reliable water and wastewater services to our customers. We look forward to engaging with the community in the coming weeks.

For more information on our outreach program please go to: https://texas.libertyutilities.com/tyler/residential/

Media inquiries can be directed to Matthew Garlick, President of Liberty Utilities – Arizona/Texas at (903) 431-3729.

With that statement being released from Liberty Utilities, the planned Town Hall meeting for October 4th for the residents of Smith County has been cancelled and all proposed rate hikes for sewer services has been suspended for the time being.

 

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