An average resident would pay an additional $3.37 a month if the new rates are approved.
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Warrenton residents could see an increase when the city’s more than 3,000 water and sewer bills arrive in the mail this August.
Warrenton is proposing an increase to both rates that will cost an average resident an additional $3.37 a month or $54.36 per year. An average user is considered someone who uses 5,000 gallons of water a month.
The rates will not be approved until July.
If the board of aldermen approves the new rates, they will be in place for 18 months from August through the end of 2024.
The increase was discussed during the May 2 board of aldermen meeting.
City Administrator Brandie Walters said the discussion happened as part of work on the next budget.
Walters said the rate increase is needed for two reasons – first to keep up with increasing operational costs and second to begin paying off the water and sewer bonds that passed in the April 4 election.
During the May 2 board of aldermen meeting, city Finance Manager Dana Belaska said the city has a tool to help project rates for five years. The tool takes into account several factors, including housing counts and inflation, to help the city make accurate estimates.
“Our goal is that every year before we come forward for rate increases, we’ll do those worksheets again,” she told the board of aldermen. “We have them internally now, we will do them again and come forward to the board with a realistic number at that point in time.”
The projections should help the city keep future rate increases small.
“We’re trying to keep it very minimal,” Walters said of future increases.
