City could ease tax hike on Mission Industries

By Dave Frank

Appeal Staff Writer

The city could ease the cost of a sewer rate hike for a commercial laundry business where millions of gallons of water evaporate before hitting the sewer system.

Rates were raised 24 percent last month to maintain facilities and pay debts for the public works department, the city said.

The new rates will start July 1.

This would cost several large businesses thousands of dollars a year, and it would cost Mission Industries more than $40,000.

The business and a representative argued that more than one-fifth of the 60 million gallons of water the business uses is lost in evaporation. The public works department agreed that the business' sewer bill should be cut, saving the business more than $8,000 a year.

The business showed it has less impact on the sewer system than initially thought, said Public Works Operations Manager Ken Arnold.

Rates haven't caused many complaints until recently, he said, because overall they haven't risen in the last 20 years.

Mission Industries is the only business that gets this cut, but it will still be paying more than double of what any other business will for the hike.

It will also pay an additional $10,000 a year for the water rate hike passed earlier this year.

Bill Mann, a representative for the Textile Rental Services Association of America, said the business washes more than 2 million pounds of clothes, bedding and other material annually, but still uses less water per pound than the industry average.

It shows that "they're trying to be good stewards of the environment," he said.

Commercial laundry businesses have worked out cuts on sewer rates, he said, and problems rarely go to court.

Besides this, the city might use eminent domain to take 4,800 square feet of land from the business for the Fairview Drive street-widening project.

City Manager Larry Werner has said Mission Industries, 1161 Fairview Dr., and the city are still discussing the issue and he doesn't think the city will actually have to go to court take the land.

The city needs to have the land ready even if it does not reach an agreement with the business, because it needs to be ready for a traffic increase on Fairview when the bypass reaches the street in 2009.

The city has offered $430,000 for the land based on appraisal.

Mission Industries is owned by Las Vegas-based Mission of Nevada Inc.

• Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.

If you go

What: Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting

When: Thursday, 3 p.m.

Where: Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.