Fayette

County residents pay more for water than their

neighbors, according to a recent study.

Wachovia

Securities Inc., a company involved in financing

numerous water and sewer construction projects,

recently released a study rating Fayette's cost

for water higher than rates in Fulton, Henry,

Douglas, Clayton and Coweta counties.

Using

an average of 9,000 gallons a month, the bill in

Fayette would be $35.60, said bond counsel Bill

Johnston, who conducted the study.

For

the same 9,000 gallons, Fulton residents pay

$25.50, Douglas residents $29.44, Coweta $30.03,

Henry $28.77 and Clayton $18. Fayetteville

residents would pay $28.80, but Peachtree City

rates were not ranked in the study, said

Johnston.

That's

no big surprise, said County Commissioner Glen

Gosa, chairman of Fayette's Water Committee. Many

water systems in surrounding counties are

subsidized by tax dollars, he said.

"Ours

is a true enterprise fund. There's no benefit

from tax dollars. It's strictly funded from

product sales and loans... at competitive

rates."

Not

only do some other counties put tax dollars into

their systems, but they also have reduced costs

simply by being older than Fayette's system, Gosa

said.

More

federal grant and low-interest loan money was

available when they were building their systems

in the `70s and `80s, he said, whereas Fayette

has built its system in more recent years when

those funding sources have been reduced.

And

Fayette's heavy capital costs have come more

recently and thus are higher, he added.

"We've constructed two reservoirs and are in

the permitting process for a third, and we've

built water tanks, loop lines and a treatment

plant."

Other

water systems are aging and expanding, so they

will have to replace old facilities and build new

ones, he predicted. "As they build their

reservoirs and construct their loop lines, their

costs will be closer to ours and their rates will

begin to close," he said.

Fayette's

last rate increase was in 1991, Gosa said,

"and we don't anticipate anymore rate

increases for the foreseeable future."

Clayton

County ranked lowest among all metro Atlanta

counties for combined water and sewer rates,

below DeKalb, Cobb, Douglas, Henry, Cherokee,

Gwinnett, Fulton and Fayette. In that comparison,

Fayette was ranked second behind Fulton County,

but the comparison is moot since Fayette does not

provide sewer service.

Johnston

said the study is conducted to give bonding

companies an idea how much flexibility water

providers have in their rates.

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