The increase, which would be about 4.5%, is needed “to not only maintain our existing system, but also to serve Butler County,” she said.
Among recent expenses are the new elevated water tank at Hamilton Enterprise Park for customers there, an expansion at the city’s south water treatment plant to serve Butler County customers and ongoing replacements of water meters, Carr said.
Utility officials are finishing a cost-of-service study for water this month, and the matter will go to the city council after that.
The city council in late 2018 approved a five-year program of increases for electric and natural-gas rates, and this month the third step of that schedule took effect, raising combined electric and gas rates about $2 per month.
Electric rates rose about $4 per month for the typical customer, but natural gas rates dropped $2 monthly, for the $2-per-month rise for a typical residential customer, Carr said. The gas rates were lowered because the city passed along to customers about $1 million in lower gas costs.
Meanwhile, Nathan Perry, administrator of that same division, noted that the city’s trash-collection fees for service by Rumpke “went up approximately $2 in January.”
That Rumpke rate “is projected to be level for the next three years, after that increase,” Perry said.
About the Author
