City council approved a three-percent water rate increase and a five-percent sewer rate increase for all customers with the passage of the 2010-2011 fiscal year budget last month.
For the average 5,000-gallon per month residential water user, this equals less than a dollar more per month.
According to Cornwell, 5,000-gallon users will pay about $.46 more each month. This calculation is based on an increase from $1.78 to $1.83 on rates for users inside the city’s incorporated area. A 3-percent increase brings the minimum charge to $.21, while the price per thousand for the typical user will be around $.25 now.
Minimum sewer charges for an average residential user rose from $2.30 to $2.41, he said, while the rate per thousand gallons of wastewater (for a 5,000-gallon water user) rose $.80, bringing the average total increase per month for sewer service to $.91.
Total estimated revenues from the increases come to roughly $400,000, Cornwell said, but that number is “relative to whatever we sell this year.”
Residential users may also see fluctuations in cost based on how many thousands of gallons of water they use each month, he pointed out.
Last year, water rates rose five percent, while sewer rates rose 10 percent; the estimated revenue from those increases was about $1.1 million.
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