The Oconto Falls City Council has approved the first sewer rate increase in six years, approving a utility commission recommendation during its Jan. 14 meeting.
The increase amounts to 6.56%, or $3.94 a month, about $47.71 per year for the average customer, said Greg Kuhn, general manager of Oconto Falls Municipal Utilities.
“Our last sewer rate case was 2018, so we’ve gone six years without a rate increase,” Kuhn said. “I think we’ve done a pretty good job trying to keep things where they’re at.”
The new rates should go into effect around April, he said. Customers are expected to receive notice in a couple of newspaper legal ads and a mailer to be included in monthly bills.
Kuhn said the city will have a decision in 2030 to make as debt is paid off from a major sewer utility rebuild that occurred in 2012 while some major projects loom.
“You either have to go back in for a very large rate decrease, (or) you have to plan new debt to come on board – which we have a few projects that we’re going to have to tackle that we’re kind of pushing off to that point,” he said. “And then the third option is to start accounting for your depreciation and putting it in a rainy day fund, which is what I would strongly suggest doing, because we’re never going to not need more money for that sewer plant.”
City Administrator Peter Wills advocated for establishing that rainy day fund.
“I came from a community that waited 40 years for a sewer treatment plant that was 20 years past its useful life,” Wills said. “They tried to catch up, and we were doing 15-18% increases every year.”
Kuhn said the city needs to address a sewer line that goes under the river that he said is well past its useful life.
“That’s not a small project, it’s going to be a doozy to try to figure out how to get that put in,” he said. “That’s our 2030 project, which we’re going to start looking at soon. We’re looking at 2027 to start the planning. 2026, we’re going to start having conversations.”
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
Categories
