Water, sewer hike of 1.5% sought
Don’t leave the faucet on too long next year. Each drip probably will cost you a little more than it did in 2017.
Columbus water and sewer rates are expected to rise again in 2018, continuing a trend of more than a decade as the city complies with regulatory orders that require large construction projects.
Rates are to tick up by about 1.5 percent next year, the smallest increase since 2014, costing the average ratepayer about $17 or $18 more, depending on whether they live in or outside the city.
The Columbus City Council has scheduled a public hearing about the proposed increase at 5 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall. The council is expected to vote on the increase Nov. 20.
The Sewer and Water Advisory Board, made up of Columbus officials and representatives of other cities, approved the new rates on Oct. 3.
“We want to continue to invest in our infrastructure and services to residents who use our water,” said Councilman Michael Stinziano, who oversees the council’s public utilities committee. “The city had committed before to creating a system where we took taxpayers’ households in mind. You continue to see slow rate growth.”
Columbus manages the water and sewer system for most of Franklin County. Most suburbs and the county buy their water from Columbus, which has three water plants and 2,500 miles of waterlines to serve 22 communities.
The average Columbus household bill would rise to about $1,120 in 2018, up from about $1,103 this year. The average customer who lives outside the city but is served by Columbus would pay about $1,230 a year, an increase from $1,212.
The city provides a 20 percent discount on water and sewer rates to low-income and elderly households.
Charging higher water rates to customers who live outside Columbus was the target of an amendment in the state budget earlier this year. Rep. Mike Duffey, a Worthington Republican, proposed cutting local-government funding to Columbus if it continued to charge different rates, but Gov. John Kasich vetoed the proposal.
Columbus officials have said the higher rates are needed because it is more expensive to provide water and sewer services to suburban customers. In addition, the city can levy a property tax on its residents if rate collections aren’t high enough to pay for capital projects, but it can’t do the same on customers who live outside its border.
In 2007, the average Columbus customer paid about $694 a year for water and sewer service, about $426 less than next year’s average.
For suburban customers, rates have jumped by about $487 dollars since 2007, when the average ratepayer paid $743 a year.
The rate hikes of the past decade-plus have been smaller in recent years. Stinziano said the city has tried to avoid large rate spikes, instead opting for gradual increases each year.
“We do our best to make sure that we’re getting things accomplished and monitoring year over year,” said Jon Lee, assistant director in the Department of Public Utilities. “It’s a matter of fact that we are going to continue to have those (increases) each year, as is every city in the state.”
The city spends more capital dollars on sewer projects than water, in part because it is under a federal order to reduce sewer overflows. Lee said the the city’s Blueprint plan to install rain gardens in neighborhoods to absorb runoff accounts for about $85 million to $100 million a year, and the city also has to build new sewers as development springs up.
“Could we get by with a zero percent and not have any rate increases?” Lee said. “If we did that, then we would have to potentially make up a significant increase further down the line. We don’t want to get to that level.”