STARKVILLE – Sewer rates for Starkville Utilities Customers are going up for the second straight year.
Aldermen on Tuesday approved a $2 increase to the monthly base rate, as well as added $3 to the variable rate charged for usage over 1,000 gallons.
As of Oct. 1, the customer base rate will be $11 and the variable rate, charged for each additional 1,000 gallons over the base, will bump to $7.50.
For a customer using 3,000 gallons, their monthly sewer bill would go from $18 to $26 with the new rates.
That represents a 83% increase to the base rate and an 67% increase to the variable rate since Fiscal Year 2024.
The rate increase will raise an additional $2.3 million next fiscal year to help cover debt payments for the first phase of wastewater treatment facility improvements and future projects, Ward 2 Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk said.
The rate increase will help fund improvements at the city’s wastewater treatment plant, including replacing broken aerators, making electrical upgrades and adding a new headworks facility. The projects were previously staggered, but are now being fast-tracked to be completed by 2027, said Starkville Utilities General Manager Edward Kemp, in order to address growth in the city. The city’s population has increased by 60% since the treatment plant was built in 1979.
These fast-tracks will result in about $1.5 million of additional debt payments projected to start next year, which these rate increases will cover, Sistrunk said.
“I believe that this is one of the most important votes that this board will make during this term, and it is that critical to me, that we understand that this is, ‘Are we open for business, or are we not open for business?’” Mayor Lynn Spruill said at Tuesday’s meeting. “And so we will need to improve our wastewater treatment plant.”
While the board voted unanimously in favor of the increase, Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn expressed concerns of additional future increases to rates.
“Will we be revisiting these rates anytime soon? I hope not,” Vaughn said.
While she could not guarantee Starkville Utilities won’t revisit rate increases again, Spruill said she hopes this is the last increase for a while.
The board also voted unanimously to approve a resolution of intent to issue an additional $10 million in bonds to cover the first phase of the wastewater improvement projects, Sistrunk said.
The board already has bonded $7 million for the plans with an additional $8 million waiting to be issued for the projects, Spruill said at the Friday work session. The new bonds will bring the total borrowing to $25 million.
The plan calls for 5% of the costs to be covered by external funding, which could be an appropriation, grant or a settlement in the city’s lawsuit against several companies for allegedly improperly installing aerators in 2020. If the city doesn’t find external funding to fill the block, Kemp said Friday the repairs could be more expensive than projected.
The lawsuit between the city and Volkert Inc., J&P construction, Evoqua Water Technologies and Environmental Technical Sales has been through mediation and is now set for trial in November, Spruill said.
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