Water rates would see a 10-percent increase come August, with 7- and 8-percent rate hikes the following two years before resuming more historically typical 5-percent increases starting in 2026.

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An ordinance (O-30-23) introduced at last month’s City Council meeting that will come up for a public hearing and final approval during the governing body’s meeting tonight at 7 p.m. sets water rates for the next decade — Aug. 1, 2023 through Jan. 1, 2032. The ordinance amends Chapter 411 (“Water”) of the code of the city.

The base water rate would be $71.67 per 1,000 cubic feet (kcf). The new ordinance would increase water rates by 5 percent each year starting in 2026 through 2032. In the last year of the ordinance (2032), water rates would be $117.61/kcf.

City Council most recently set water rates in 2021, 2017 and 2013. The difference in projected water rates over the decade between what was approved in 2021 and the proposed ordinance is roughly 13 percent higher in the first year and about 16 percent more annually.

The 2023 municipal budget anticipates using $1.295 million in Water Utility surplus, up from $750,000 in the 2022 budget.

The governing body also introduced a measure (O-31-23) to set sewer rates from 2023 through 2030, which would jump 10 percent in 2024, followed by 8-percent hikes in 2025 and 2026, and 5-percent annual increases through 2030.

Each additional unit above a two-family the annual charge would be the current year amount plus $185 for each unit above a two-family home. For properties owned by senior citizens that qualify for a senior tax deduction, the rates would be $50.

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