The Columbus City Utilities board may vote on a recommendation to modify potential increases in water and sewer rates on Tuesday.
Any increases the board would approve would also need approval from the Columbus City Council, where there will be a public hearing followed by two readings of an ordinance establishing the potential change in rates.
“They could potentially go to recommend these changes to city council, so I can’t say for sure that they’re going to do it,” Columbus City Utilities (CCU) Director Roger Kelso said over the phone on Friday morning. “We’ve had quite a bit of discussion about summer sewer rates, where we do an adjustment on sewer when people have sprinkler systems for their yards and that sort of thing.”
The potential rate increases were recommended by an outside firm, Baker Tilly, and based on a cost-of-service study done for both utilities.
Baker Tilly’s Doug Baldessari said the primary driver for the new round of potential increases is $60 million in planned capital projects identified in the utilities master plan relating to various crucial infrastructure from needed improvements to the city’s lift stations to the city’s water treatment plants.
During a special meeting on July 8, Baker Tilly and company recommended sewage rates be increased over three phases from 2025 to 2027. Rates would see 9% jumps in 2025 and 2026, followed by a 5% increase in 2027. Water rates would be increased in two phases, beginning with a 23% increase during phase one in January 2026, followed by a 20% increase in January 2027.
However, during a special meeting of the board on Aug. 5, Baldessari gave an updated report and recommended further changes to the proposed sewer rate.
This is because of a significant reduction in surcharge revenue from 2023 “which caused increases mostly in the industrial rates, along with some shift in other customer classes,” according to the meeting minutes. Bulk rates were also adjusted to be in line with other rates, and there were no changes to the proposed water rates, per the minutes.
In addition, the board asked Baker Tilly to provide information on the impact of possibly getting rid of the summer sewer allowance with a different irrigation rate than previously proposed. The firm will be presenting what they’ve found during Tuesday’s meeting.
Previous water and sewer rate bumps were approved in 2021 and lasted over three phases with increases in 2021, 2023 and this year. At the time, the increases were the first in more than 27 years for water customers and 12 years for sewer customers.
Sewer rate increases only require approval by the utility board and the city council, whereas water rate increases need sign off from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC). Utilities officials will prepare and file the proposed changes with the IURC in September and expect to hear back with IURC’s final order in July of 2025. At that time, the rate increases would go back to city council once again to approve the final changes based on IURC feedback, officials said.
