The first reading of an ordinance amending utility rates was approved at the recent Washington City Council meeting.

The rates that would take effect July 1st are a 7.5% increase on water and a 5% increase on sewer usage with no base rate increases. These rates were preliminarily approved during the budget process for fiscal year 2022. Council Member Danielle Pettit-Majewski remarked that no one wants to increase utility rates, but this is how the city continues to invest to make sure that infrastructure is kept up to code and that residents’ utilities work normally, “By careful planning and maintenance and investment continuously we save ourselves from having a large, expensive, reactionary project that would become urgent.”

The ordinance states a base monthly water service charge of $17.85 per account, with usage charged at $4.75 per 100 cubic feet. For residential customers the sewer base rate is $31.50 per month with $4.46 per 100 cubic feet of water used. Garbage and recycling changes have already been implemented since the council adopted a five-year rate structure with acceptance of a five-year contract with Johnson County Refuse. The amended ordinance will move to a second reading at the next city council meeting.