Tuesday, December 10, 2024–11:30 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
City of Rome water and sewer customers could see a five-and-a-half percent rate increase in 2025 and 2026 if the Rome City Commission goes along with the recommendation of a consultant. If the increase is approved, the average bill based on 4,500 gallons used would go from $68.89 to $72.67 a month.
Bill Zieburtz with Stantec shared the results of a rate study with members of the water and sewer committee on Tuesday and recommended that the city raise water and sewer rates by five-and-a-half percent over the next two years and then take another careful look at rates once the final implications of the new reverse osmosis treatment facility are known and other pressing capital needs are understood.
The increase could have been a lot more, according to Zieburtz. Other scenarios would have seen nine percent increase across the board or no increase until Fiscal Year 2028 with double-digit increases needed after that to meet 100 percent of the projected $459 million needed for capital projects. The Five-and-a-half percent increase takes into account 75% CIP execution for $374 million.
Zieburtz told the committee it may be time for the city to return to regular rate adjustments as the dollar is buying less every year.
“Because the city provides service denominated in dollars, the price-inflation thing is directly relevant,” he said. “We have to pay these dollars, and you give those dollars. You have to deal with inflation. It’s not something we can ignore. You are managing a system that has to be managed. You have to get the revenue stream and expense stream balanced.”
When Rome settled with chemical companies, carpet manufacturers, and others regarding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the Oostanaula River, water and sewer rates were rolled back to where they were in December of 2018. That was almost a 25 percent reduction, which saved the average customer $15.04 on their bills each month, based on 5,000-gallon consumption. That totals a savings of $225.60 over the last 15 months. Rome Water and Sewer Division Director John Boyd went over the water and sewer rate adjustments since 2010.
“We usually averaged two-and-a-half to four percent increases over five or six years,” he said. “We had a couple of years where we didn’t have any. In 2019, we had a five percent increase. In 2020, we had three percent. Then we had the big increases of nine percent and nine percent in 2022 and 2023. In reality, those nine percent increases, if we weren’t dealing with what we were dealing with, they would have been three percent increases just to keep up with the cost of living and the cost of materials.”
Boyd stressed that customers would be paying nine percent increases over the next couple of years instead of the five-and-a-half percent that is being recommended, if not for the water settlement funds. Although the water and sewer fund currently had a healthy balance, Boyd told the committee, it would begin to dissipate pretty quickly.
“Think of it as a construction loan that you are about to start drawing down on pretty hard,” he said. “It could be as much as $50 million next year, according to our engineer, as we start procuring equipment and materials because of the extended lead times. There are still some items out there that are three to five years old, and we need to understand, is a municipality that is building this water plant going to get $500 electrical part, or is a big battery plant going to get it?—or wherever these other large industries are going up. So, it’s going to be tough.”
The Rome Water and Sewer Department operates via an enterprise fund and is not supported by property taxes. One thing that could help with future water and sewer rates would be to lure new industry that uses a lot of water.
The water and sewer committee voted to go with the consultant’s recommendation.
The full Rome City Commission will have the final vote, possibly as early as their December 16 meeting.