It very quickly became clear during the Dec. 21 court hearing that the two judges who comprise the Court of Jurisdiction overseeing the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District rate structure weren’t about to simply rubber stamp a utility rate hike being requested by the water district.

Instead, Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Anthony Donofrio and Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice listened to testimony from MVSD’s chief engineer and its plant operations manager — and then punctuated the testimony with many questions about revenue and cash on hand in MVSD coffers. The MVSD officials apparently didn’t answer the questions to the judges’ satisfaction.

Last week the judges denied the request.

“Based upon the evidence submitted, the inconsistent financial figures provided and the best interests of the public, the request is hereby denied,” they wrote as part of their four-paragraph ruling.

We believe the judges made the correct decision based on the information they had. The MVSD officials insisted they needed the rate increase to fund a $49 million project to refurbish the dam and spillway at Meander Reservoir, upgrade a tank that separates the solids from the water and replace 3,500 feet of a 36-inch transmission line that brings water to the West Side of Youngstown. Frankly, they should be embarrassed for coming unprepared to the court hearing and failing to make their case.

The district was seeking rate increases totaling 33 cents per 1,000 gallons of water over the next three years.

Statistics show that an average household of four people uses around 12,000 gallons of water per month, meaning the total increase could have cost an average household about $3.96 extra per month, or just under an additional $50 per year.

The MVSD was established under the Ohio Revised Code in the 1920s to provide clean drinking water to much of the area’s population. If approved, the annual increases would have been billed to Youngstown, Niles and McDonald, and that cost could have been passed along to other customers.

Youngstown and Niles resell the water to their residents and to Girard, Canfield, Mineral Ridge, Lordstown, Craig Beach and portions of 10 other townships, including about half of Boardman.

Judge Rice noted during the December hearing that actual water users number about 200,000 throughout the Mahoning Valley.

“We are talking about a whole lot of money here,” he said.

The district last raised its rate for water, with the agreement of the member communities and the order of the court, on July 1, 2015. That rate has remained at $2.10 per 1,000 gallons of water. If granted, the 33 cents would have equaled just shy of a 16 percent increase.

During last month’s hearing, Judge Rice asked both plant manager Tom Holloway and MVSD chief engineer Michael McNinch how much money the district has on hand.

Each offered various answers ranging from $6 million to $33 million, but Rice said he wanted to refer to audited figures by the state because he “didn’t trust” figures supplied only by MVSD officials. Rice also said he was concerned when MVSD officials didn’t provide the court of jurisdiction with yearly financial statements, only giving the court figures over the last five years.

McNinch said his figures show if there were no rate increases, the district would face an operating deficit of about $232,000 over the next fiscal year.

As far as operating costs, McNinch said the district has seen “dramatic increases,” particularly in the cost of chemicals used in the water treatment process.

We don’t doubt that — inflation has triggered increases in all expenses everywhere.

That’s why we are even more puzzled why the MVSD officials didn’t bring the information they needed to prove their point.

Without solid answers, we believe the judges, acting on behalf of the water users, were right to deny the rate increase.

editorial@vindy.com