ANDERSON — The Anderson City Council will consider ordinances to raise water rates and to issue a bond of up to a $65 million for the system improvements at a special meeting set for Tuesday.
The council met Nov. 17 to consider the two ordinances, but no action was taken because of a lack of a quorum.
The council is meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday to consider the proposed ordinances; it’s not known if the council will consider suspending the rules and giving the requested legislation the necessary three readings for approval.
Mayor Thomas J. Broderick Jr. said at the Nov. 17 meeting that improvements to the water system had been discussed with the council in February and July when it considered distribution of American Rescue Plan funds.
He said there have only been two water rate increases in the past 26 years.
The proposed water rate increase for the average residential customer is expected to be $6.05 monthly and not fully take effect until 2026. The current average residential customer spends $22 per month for water.
The increase will not impact the higher sewer rates.
The first increase is $1.81 per month to start in 2023; the second increase of $2.08 would go into effect in 2024; and the final $2.16 increase in 2016.
“We made sure the industrial users are paying their fair share,” he said.
The city currently has the capacity to deliver up to 12 million gallons of water daily, according to the mayor.
He said several new wells have been identified that could increase the capacity by up to 6 million gallons per day.
The actual cost of the system upgrades has been estimated at $60 million.
The city is using $9 million in ARP funds for the project and will request $8.5 million from the Anderson Redevelopment Commission’s Tax Increment Financing account, which has a balance of $30 million.
Broderick said the city will apply for any federal and state grant funding that may be available for the project to offset costs to water utility customers.
Earlier this year, Broderick and Neal McKee, superintendent of the water utility, outlined the need to upgrade the system’s infrastructure and that there were increased demands and decreasing water supply.
“We have conducted a detailed study of our needs, as well as a cost-of-service rate case study,” Broderick said. “The $9 million in ARP funds I earlier requested will help hold down the rate increase.”
Broderick said the rate case will shift some of the costs of service from residential customers to the larger industrial users in Anderson.
“The cost-of-service study concluded that our industrial users should be bearing more of the cost of service,” he said. “This will help make our rate structure more equitable for the homeowner.”
The last rate increase was in 2015 and had been the first in almost 20 years.
The initial plan is to expand the Lafayette treatment plant and well field and repair the distribution lines.
Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.
