Consumers will see a sewage-rate increase on their November bill.
Vicki Duenke, finance director for the city of Mexico, presented the proposed rate increase to the city council at the Oct. 27 …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, or you are a print subscriber who had access to our previous website, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you have not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber and did not have a user account on our previous website, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
Consumers will see a sewage-rate increase on their November bill.
Vicki Duenke, finance director for the city of Mexico, presented the proposed rate increase to the city council at the Oct. 27 meeting.
“We did an analysis and came up with a 2% rate increase, which takes care of our additional operating costs, capital needs and debt service,” Duenke said.
As they stand now, the base user charge rate per 1,000 gallons is $1.50, the capital charge is $6.46, and the base monthly rate is $10.21.
According to Duenke, for the average household that uses 5,000 gallons per month, the 2% rate change would mean only a $1 increase on their bill.
Back in 2008, the city set in motion a wastewater rate, treatment plant and collection system improvement project. Duenke said that a capital asset analysis called for more than $12 million in capital improvements, which was presented to the public and city council in 2009.
With voter approval, the project was financed in two different phases.
“In 2020, we took advantage of the refunding of our bonds to lower interest rates, which helped us accomplish paying off our bonds much quicker and with much smaller debt-service payment,” Duenke said.
Rather than funding the third phase of improvements through another bond issuance and accruing more debt, the city has been financing capital improvements on a “pay-as-you-go” basis through which needs are priority ranked and reserved cash is drawn down.
“We continue to budget pretty aggressively with some capital projects to try to help position us and tackle the things that we know are going to be part of that next round of a big Wastewater Treatment Plant facility update,” Duenke said. She added that for the next five years, she expects a 2-3% rate increase every year to help the city stay current and continue to tackle improvements without having to borrow.
According to a letter submitted by Duenke to the city council on Oct. 27, it is estimated that fiscal year 2025 will end with $433,336 in capital outlay, and fiscal year 2026 is budgeting for $864,750 in capital expenditure.
City Council hears about sewage rate increases
