January 2026 Mayor's Corner
Mayor’s Corner
January 2026
Happy New Year Everyone! Have you realized we are starting the second quarter of the 21st century? This gives new meaning to the phrase “time flies.”
Although we are in a new year on the calendar, the Village of Colfax still has four months left in its fiscal year which ends April 30, 2026. As part of its routine work, subcommittees of the Board of Trustees meet to have preliminary discussions about a variety of topics that pertain to the overall operation of our small community. The topics reviewed include finances, audits, police, liquor commission, water, sewer, streetlights, maintenance equipment, vehicles and general services.
When you live in a small quiet town like Colfax, you would be surprised by what needs to take place to make living here a reality. We all go to the faucets in our houses and expect water to flow immediately. We flush our toilets and the waste is removed. Each week, we place our garbage bin along the street to be dumped and every other week we put our recycling bin out for pick-up. We wake up on a snowy morning to find our street plowed, enabling us to go to work. In the fall, we can rake our leaves to the edge of the street for pick-up. We drive regularly on maintained streets that are lit up by streetlights. We put out large, oversized items for discard that are picked up; or, a dumpster is provided for residents to deposit items.
We enjoy an alcoholic beverage in several businesses in the village, made available through the licensing by the liquor commission. We are made safer with the tornado sirens. We can obtain building permits for additions to our homes to build a garage or shed and similar projects. We know we can contact Animal Control for help when needed.
So, as you see, there is much going on behind the scenes that most of us even know. We pretty much take much of this for granted and we don’t think about how much it costs to provide the services noted above; we just know we like having them. The trustees and employees decided to take an in-depth look at our water and sewer finances, since those areas are high-cost items and are vital to our community. Colfax is very fortunate to have a water and sewer system as well as a police department.
In the examination, it was determined that the costs associated with the water and sewer system exceeded the revenue by over $32,500 in a six-month period. Providing safe water that is tested and approved regularly with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) only happens through the use of a variety of supplies including chlorine, phosphorous and other chemicals, all of which have increased in price. Similar costs are also required for sewer services including degreasers, bacteria for the lagoon, nets to catch the debris in the sewer (disposable wipes that should not be flushed, feminine products, condoms, toys and other items) and bacteria for the lift station.
In addition, it was realized there are limited resources to fund projects that will be needed over the next few years. Many water meters in Colfax need to be replaced, the sewage lagoon needs to be dredged and hauled away, the lift station needs an additional generator to ensure it will function properly plus other repairs, big and small, in the systems.
The Board of Trustees at its January 5, 2026 meeting adopted ordinances that increased the water and sewer rates, effective February 1, 2026. In addition, an infrastructure fee was added for water and sewer each in order to prepare for the major projects that will be required in the future. In addition, the storm water fee was raised from $3.00 to $5.00.
Current Rate New Rate
Water Inside Village $7.81/1,000 gal $8.81/1,000 gal
0.85 each additional 100 0.94 each additional
Gallons 100 gallons
Water Outside Village $10.03 /1,000 gal $11.03/1,000 gal
0.85 each additional 100 0.94 each additional
Gallons 100 gallons
Water Only $10.03 /1,000 gal $11.03/1,000 gal
0.85 each additional 100 0.94 each additional
Gallons 100 gallons
Sewer Inside Village $10.03 /1,000 gal $11.03/1,000 gal
0.56 each additional 100 0.94 each additional
gallons 100 gallons.
Sewer Outside Village $11.21/1,000 gal $12.21/1,000 gal
0.56 each additional 100 0.94 each additional
gallons 100 gallons
The next meeting of the Board of Trustees is on Monday, February 2, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. Visitors are welcome at every meeting.
May 2026 be an outstanding year for the Village of Colfax and for all of you.