The Washington City Council adopted an ordinance amending the utility rates during their meeting Tuesday.

The third reading of the ordinance was approved with a 7.5% increase on water usage and a 3.5% increase on sewer usage, with no base rate increases. These increases were delayed six months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Council Member Danielle Pettit-Majewski commented that while nobody likes to see their water rate go up, including those on the City Council, she thinks it’s very important to continue investing in the City’s infrastructure.

Mayor Jaron Rosien mentioned this increase being a sort of necessary evil, “I have to share that I did receive one comment in the store in the middle of a very stressful day anyway, someone that said, ‘Sir, don’t raise our rates, don’t do it.’ And that struck me, like in the middle of the pandemic. Well, we’ve already delayed this by six months in the middle of the pandemic, and the rate is minor, that way we don’t have to do major rates down the road, which is how we got here.”

The rates that went into effect state that there will be a basic monthly water service charge of $17.85 per account, with $4.42 charged per 100 cubic feet of water used. Sewer rates for residential customers will equal $31.50 per month plus $4.25 per 100 cubic feet of water used.