STARKVILLE – Water and sewer rates are staying the same, for now at least.
During its regular meeting Tuesday, the board of alderman unanimously voted to table the request to raise water and sewer rates until its next meeting, with plans to discuss the topic during a Sept. 13 work session.
The board agreed a rate increase is needed, but the size of the increase dampened their enthusiasm.
“I don’t think anybody up here would question at all whether or not there was a need for this,” Ward 2 Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk said. “I think what we all struggle with is making sure the amounts that we choose are reasonable and prudent and allow you the money that (the utilities department) needs to move forward with these projects.”
Starkville Utilities General Manager Edward Kemp asked the board during its Friday work session to raise the base and variable rates for sewer and water to help generate funding for Starkville Utilities’ capital improvement plan. The plan requires at least $2 million in additional sewer revenue, plus $1 million more in additional water revenue each year each year.
Kemp proposed a new base water rate of $8.50 for the first 1,000 gallons and $5 for each additional $1,000 gallons. For sewer, the proposed new base rate is $10.75 with a variable rate of $6.50.
Currently customers pay a base rate of $6 and a variable rate of $4.50 for both water and sewer.
The bill for a customer using 3,000 gallons of water/sewer per month would increase by $11.68 with the proposed rate structure. For a 4,000-gallon user, it would increase by $13.85. Kemp previously told The Dispatch the average household uses about 2,800 gallons per month.
Capital improvements under the plan include replacing six aerators in Starkville Utilities’ wastewater treatment plant that failed in 2019. Revenue from increased rates would also help fund a new production well.
Ward 5 Alderman Hamp Beatty acknowledged the need to fund the projects but said he would need more information and a chance to look at other options before approving such an increase.
“We’ve got to be sensitive to the fact that this rate increase is almost a 42% increase across the board for consumers,” he said.
As a compromise, Sistrunk moved to increase the base rates for both water and sewer and wait to increase variable rates until after more discussion.
“I would like to take a breath with adjusting the variable portion of it until we have more information,” she said. “I’ll be more specific – until we’ve identified the water loss issues.”
A study into Starkville Utilities’ current water system, which was presented to the board in June, found that about 45% of the city’s produced water is lost daily in non-revenue use.
Sistrunk’s motion died without a second. Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn noted that Mayor Lynn Spruill and other board members had agreed that not raising the rates would put the city behind in terms of updating its already aged systems.
The city is already behind, Spruill said.
“We’ve got a lot of places that are currently in need,” she said. “… The bottom line is we will continue, everyday that goes by we have another break somewhere that you’ve got to fix.”
Ward 1 Alderwoman Kim Moreland proposed another compromise, moving to increase the sewer base rate the proposed amount and wait to increase the rest later. But the motion died without a second.
Ward 3 Alderman Jeffrey Rupp agreed that more discussion would be helpful in making a decision.
“I didn’t necessarily oppose (Sistrunk and Moreland’s) motions, but I don’t feel I know which one is in the best interest of the citizens, so that’s why I didn’t support them,” Rupp said. “But I know we need to do something.”
Beatty moved to table the matter until the Sept. 17 meeting, with plans to discuss at the next work session.
Kemp acknowledged the board’s concerns about the rate increases but emphasized the improvement projects are critical and need to be addressed urgently.
“It’s a great conversation about how you design the rates and how (that can be done with) the softest impact,” he told the board. “I think that’s a great discussion that we can continue to have, but … the projects are important. There’s not really a lot of good alternatives for not doing the projects.”
The board Tuesday also approved its budget for Fiscal Year 2025 in a 6-1 vote, with Perkins voting no. Perkins had previously planned to oppose the proposed budget in support of delaying city employee raises to instead purchase 40 police cameras next year, instead of just the budgeted 20.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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