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ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD - At least one small business owner in Fort Liard is feeling the pinch since the hamlet revised its water subsidy rates, a move that hamlet officials say was necessary to protect residents.

On Jan. 1, the hamlet removed its water subsidies for commercial users. Between July 1, 2008 and Dec. 31 of that year, businesses were receiving a subsidy of $.0274 per litre. The economic rate for all customers that's paid before the subsidies are applied has remained unchanged at $.0388 per litre.

Commercial customers in Fort Liard are paying more for water this year after the hamlet removed the commercial water subsidy. Residential customers are also paying slightly more for water. - NNSL photo illustration

"Our water bill doubled in one month's time," said Joanne Deneron, owner and operator of The Liard Valley General Store and Motel.

Deneron said before the subsidy was removed the business' water bill was approximately $800 a month. Since the change Deneron has so far received bills for $1,597 and $1,594 respectively.

The increase came as a surprise because businesses weren't consulted or given notice before the change was made, Deneron said. The resulting higher water bills might be easily managed by larger businesses in the hamlet like the Northern Store, but they are making a big difference for small businesses, she said.

Even before the subsidy was removed, Deneron had already implemented water-saving measures at both the store and the motel including low water capacity toilets. Now with the change, Deneron said she's even more water-conscious.

The store serves some hot food and now all the dishes are saved until the end of the day to be washed in one batch. The loss of the subsidy has also changed how the motel does its linens.

Staff were doing the laundry in the hamlet but now they drive it to Fort Nelson and use a laundromat to save money.

But even with the water-saving measures, the business still needs to use a certain amount of water.

"They've kind of got you. Where else are you going to get water from?" she asked.

The hamlet should create a different water subsidy category for small businesses, Deneron said.

The hamlet had no choice but to end the commercial subsidies so it could maintain the water subsidies for residential users, said John McKee, senior administrative officer for the hamlet.

Every year the hamlet receives a fixed amount of money from the territorial government to use for water subsidies. The hamlet is allowed to choose how the money is applied.

Over time, the hamlet has been forced to gradually reduce the subsidies per litre because the funding has remained the same but the amount of water the community uses has increased, McKee said.

The hamlet has always kept its residents as the top priority for the subsidies.

"The aim is to try and provide homeowners with their basic consumption at the lowest possible rate," McKee said.

This year, hamlet council made the decision to cut the commercial subsidies so money could be used for the residential users.

Since Jan. 1, residential users have been paying the base rate with a subsidy of $.0306 per litre applied for the first 15,000 litres and a subsidy of $.0237 for up to 16,999 litres. For residents who use more than the 16,999-litre cutoff, the full economic rate is applied. Prior to the change residents had a subsidy of $.0322 per litre for up to 18,000 litres per month.

The subsidy for seniors has been maintained at $.0388 per litre up to 10,000 liters per month.

Last year the hamlet received $443,000 and paid $445,000 to users. The extra $2,000 will have to come from the hamlet, he said.

The hamlet council reviews the subsidy rates and the economic rate at least once - and sometimes twice - a year to ensure spending stays on track. McKee added the hamlet isn't making money from providing water and sewage services.

All of the revenue earned is just reused to provide the service.

"It's a break even thing," he said.

If the hamlet received more funding for the subsidy the commercial subsidies could be reinstated, but it doesn't look promising, said Wayne Newbury, the hamlet's mayor.

Newbury said he's written an e-mail to Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche asking about specific programs for small businesses.

The government says it's concerned about small businesses but it doesn't provide programs to help cover the costs of water and sewer rates or electricity for them, Newbury said.