tility metering, billing change
ay increase monthly rates
!n « o[|
eonl ||f: By KIPP SHACKELFORD
' lr .Battalion Reporter
aid.
,1 Several thousand College Station
;’ n ” apartinent residents will experience
, f ew | an increase in monthly utility bills
j w when an ordinance which changes
ngl, the metering and billing process be-
l es ij. comes effective today.
The change will involve raising the
cost of electricity for master meter-
ingprojects, which have been paying
less per kilowatt-hour, to equal the
cost of individual metering.
-ome
disc
rodin
In individual or residential meter
ing, a separate meter is read for each
apartment residence, and the indi
vidual tenant pays the city. In master
metering, one meter is read for an
entire apartment complex. These
complexes generally include utility
costs in the rent.
Chuck Hardy, president of the
College Station Apartment Associa
tion, has formed a committee to
study what legal action can be taken
to prevent the change from going
into effect.
#
lew students know of
or use Campus Chest
By MERIL EDWARDS
Battalion Reporter
Only six or seven students have borrowed money from the Campus
sliest loan program this semester, said Jim Pratt, Campus Chest
director.
“In a student body of 30,000, you’d think there would be more
people than this taking out loans,” Pratt said. “Most students don’t
know there is such a thing as Campus Chest, though.”
Campus Chest is an emergency loan program operated by the Texas
k&M University student government. Students may borrow up to
[1100 interest free from Campus Chest when they are not able to secure
mney from other sources.
Pratt defined an emergency situation as an unforeseen combination
bf circumstances that calls for immediate financial aid, such as a death
jin the family, a fire or an accident.
“It is pretty much up to my discretion to decide what is an
emergency situation,” Pratt said. “We want to help as many students
[is we can, but just want to make sure there is a legitimate need.”
CAMPUS CHEST HAS THE authority to block grades if a loan is
pot repaid and they have a legal alternative as well.
“The suggestion of action on our part to get the money back is usually
enough to motivate a student to repay his loan,” Pratt said. “I don’t
think many students come to borrow with the intention of not repaying
jthe money, but it’s just a matter of neglect, of letting it slip and slide.”
Many students in the past have let their loans slip and slide. So last
(Fall, the Campus Chest revised their standards. To qualify for a loan,
ptudents must not be on scholastic probation or have defaulted on a
previous Campus Chest loan. If the loan is not paid back within 60
lays, a charge of 50 cents a month is added to the original amount
aorrowed.
Last year, the Campus Chest was audited and $3,000 in unpaid loans
vas discovered to be missing.
Pratt said there was talk at the time of previous directors using the
loney. “Mainly, though, it was just a mismanagement of funds,” he
[said, “and not enough work was done to get the money back.”
“THERE IS ABOUT $1,500 in outstanding loans since 1976 and
ve’re working on getting that back now. We re not going back any
irther than that right now.
Campus Chest also sends flowers to the families of students who die
vhile going to school here.
In the past, the money for Campus Chest has come from donations
Received at home football games.
“In recent years, the donations have declined,” Pratt said. “So this
year we decided to try a new fund-raisinig project.”
Campus Chest will sell 8-by-12 inch wooden plaques with engraved
fietal plates of either the school seal or the ring crest on them.
Pratt said the student’s name and year of graduation will be
engraved on the plaque and special orders for printing variations may
arranged.
“I feel that it would cost less to buy
electricity through one point, as in
the master-metering system, than
through many individual points,”
Hardy said.
The Apartment Association is
presently in touch with an attorney
and hopes to appeal the case. Apart
ment operators and owners have also
discussed setting up a bank account
for contributions to aid the process.
Hardy said he feels that expenses
and risks are much greater with indi
vidual metering than master meter
ing. He said that it involves greater
labor and transportation costs for the
electric company to read and pre
pare individual bills than for
master-metering projects.
Hardy said he feels the city will
have more difficulty collecting pay
ments from many individuals than
from complexes.
“Apartment rent has gone up at a
slower rate than any other product
on the consumer market, but now
owners will be forced to raise rents
for fall and summer,” said Hardy.
The ordinance will greatly affect
landlords who have signed leases
through the end of May. They will
be forced to compensate for dif
ferences in the rate increase until
the leases expire. They will then
have to raise apartment rent. Hardy
said.
ling in which the change would cause
an increase in rates. Similar to mas
ter metering, landlords receive a 10
percent discount from the electric
company by hiring their own labor to
read meters. The tenants pay less
due to the discount.
Two College Station complexes
use submetering.
Another plans to convert to the
submetering plan in August.
Verda, Shelby, manager of the
Tree House complex, which plans to
change to the submetering process,
thinks that prices would be too high
for residents if rent was raised to ab
sorb the increase in utility rates.
Another master-metered complex
is Monaco, which has decided to
raise rents rather than convert to
submetering.
“I feel we should get the same
break as the submetered apartments
because the city has to read only one
meter for our complex,” said Ronnie
Crow, manager of Monaco.
Crow said she feels this ruling will
create a hardship on master metered
complexes as it will be difficult for
them to determine how much rents
will have to be raised to compensate
for differences in the rates.
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, MARCH 1. 1979
Page 5
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