At least one member of the Greenville Municipal Authority Board wants his colleagues to look at easing the burden of water bills by asking large- scale water consumers to step up to the plate.

At the board's budget work session Tuesday, Vice President John Brown asked if it would be possible to raise rates on industrial and commercial users, which account for 28 percent of the authority's operating revenues.

"If we could look into double the rates that Thiel College and the hospital pay, I would be jumping up and down and clapping," Brown said. "They contribute little, if nothing to the borough."

Brown added, "For the past five years, the little guy has been taking it on the chin, while the (large commercial users) have been walking off for free."

Brown said he was concerned by the effect a recent 15 percent hike in water rates would have on people on fixed incomes, such as retirees. The largest age group in Greenville are people aged 55 and older, according to a demographic study by Resource and Development Management Inc., the borough's state-appointed Act 47 coordinator. Act 47 is the state's program for financially distressed communities.

Currently, rates for all water authority customers are the same. The only difference people pay, office manager Maria Kerekes said, is a minimum connection fee based on the size of the meter they use.

Board President Dick Miller passed out a rate card for Sharpsville's water system. Treasurer Janet Hurlbert noted the connection fees for a 6-inch meter on Greenville's system are half of Sharpsville's.

The authority board worked on a budget of about $1.2 million, with an excess revenue of about $400,000. The authority went over budget last year on operating and treatment budgets at the plant, Superintendent Bill Brady said, due to the fall's pump crisis.

The board will vote on the budget Feb. 25.