Columbus City Council members approved the first reading of two ordinances to increase water and sewer rates.
Members voted 8-0 Tuesday to approve new water rates and issue waterworks revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $36 million for water utility projects, plus $4 million in bond anticipation notes, if necessary.
The council approved new sewer rates on a vote of 5-3— the vote tally was the same to issue revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $61 million, as well as bond anticipation notes in an amount not to exceed $11 million for sewer utility projects.
Council members Chris Bartels, R-District 1, Frank Miller, R-District 4, and Jay Foyst, R-District 6 voted against the sewer rate and bond ordinances. Council member Jerone Wood, D-District 3, was absent.
Ordinances must be passed on two readings to be approved. The second reading of the ordinances establishing the rates is set for the council meeting on Oct. 1.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first council meeting attended by Foyst since an Indiana appeals court in July ruled that he was not a valid candidate in the 2023 election because the Bartholomew County Republican Party failed to “meet a statutory deadline for filling a vacancy on a general election ballot” last year. The appellate judges sent the case back to a lower court with instructions to declare his opponent Bryan Muñoz the winner. However, on Aug. 30, Foyst filed an appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court, asking the justices to vacate the July appellate decision and affirm a previous trial court’s decision that upheld his candidacy.
Foyst won his race against Muñoz with 59.5% of the vote while the lawsuit against his candidacy was still pending.
The Indiana Supreme Court has no obligation to take up the case and if the justices decide not to hear it, the appellate court decision will be final. As of last week, 431 petitions to transfer had been filed this year and the Supreme Court had granted just 36 of them, or about 8%, according to court records.
When asked if council was advised that Foyst would be able to continue to vote while he waits an appeal, Council President Miller said council members were unable to comment because it’s an ongoing legal matter and would prefer that Foyst speak for himself. Foyst or his legal counsel did not return requests for comment by press time on Wednesday.
Foyst did mention to CCU representatives during the vote on the sewer rate and bond ordinances that, “If I vote no, it’s nothing against you” saying that he had been “on the sidelines for a couple of months” and that he hadn’t “caught up on everything that’s going on with your proposal. I haven’t had time to examine it and be fully informed to make a proper judgement.”
The new rates were backed by the Columbus City Utilities (CCU) board during its meeting on Aug. 19 and recommended by an outside firm, Baker Tilly.
The firm’s recommendations were based on a cost-of-service study done for both utilities. The primary driver for the increases are planned capital projects over the next few years to critical CCU infrastructure.
Cost of service rate adjustments will vary based on customer class.
Water rates are subject to Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) jurisdiction, whereas sewer rates are not. Although the council may approve water rate increases, the IURC will ultimately approve a certain rate schedule, which takes about a year. Because of this, the water rate increases won’t be effective until 2026, even though the proposed phase one sewer rate increases would get started in January of 2025 if approved by council members.
The IURC will decide whether to accept the proposed water rates as presented, or may adjust them. If they are adjusted, the new water rates would come before city council one final time sometime next year for approval.
Water rates
Water rates are proposed to be increased over two phases, beginning with 18% increase in 2026, followed by another 15% increase in 2027 for a typical residential user, assuming usage of 4,000 gallons per month.
According to a cost driver breakdown presented to council members, debt service and capital improvement plan projects are responsible for 81% of the increase in water revenue requirements and about 19% is due to operating expenses.
Below is an example of an average residential user monthly bill, assuming usage of 4,000 gallons per month:
- Current ($16.45)
- Phase 1 ($19.39)
- Phase 2 ($22.29)
Sewer rates
Sewer rates are to be increased over three phases, beginning with a 5% increase during phase 1 in 2025, a 9% increase during phase 2 in 2026 and another 5% increase in 2027.
A cost driver breakdown indicated that the sewer rate increase is 48% due to debt service, 39% because of operating expenses and 13% for replacements and improvements.
Below is an example of an average residential user monthly bill, assuming usage of 4,000 gallons per month:
- Current ($40.37)
- Phase 1 ($42.57)
- Phase 2 ($46.40)
- Phase 3 (48.73)
The previous water and sewer rate increases 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.
The biggest planned capital project is on the sewer side — a $20 million westside interceptor that would eliminate the need for a lift station on State Road 46 and generally allow for continued growth in the area. There would also be upgrades to some of the city’s lift stations and wastewater treatment plants.
During the last meeting, Bartels noted that much of the debt service on the sewer side drops off after 2026, and wondered if deferring the westside interceptor later would be worthwhile. He also asked if redevelopment dollars could be put towards the interceptor out of the central tax-increment-financing district. Mayor Mary Ferdon said if redevelopment were to do so, it could mean the city’s riverfront project may not happen and they may not have the funds for the recently purchased site of a future department of public works facility.
The interceptor is a crucial component of the City View District Plan, where 700 acres of property owned by Columbus Regional Health would be transformed to add a future CRH campus and a variety of residential neighborhoods, commercial centers and a research and development campus. The site stretches east-to-west from Interstate 65 almost to State Road 11/Jonesville Road, and is south of the westside Walmart and north of the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds.
Council member Elaine Hilber, D-District 2, asked utility representatives what the interceptor would be serving outside of any future development.
The interceptor would also help meet needs that are currently not being met, CCU’s Ashley Getz said.
“There’s our State Road 46 lift station that we’ve talked about, it’s undersized for current flows,” Getz said. “It currently receives double what it can pump.”
She also mentioned issues with flushing toilets at Wal-Mart on Merchant Mile and the overflow of a sanitary sewer in the area.
CCU officials said that part of what is fueling the increased rates is maintenance that had been deferred in the past.
“None of us were here 30-40 years ago to make that decision,” Council member Josh Burnett, R-at-large said. “But we could potentially stop the people that will one day have to make these decisions like us, and they won’t have to make this hard decision, because we put best practices into place and thought that far ahead.”
Bartels noted a list of 2,530 items of things CCU said needs to be addressed, saying, “Let’s address those items, phase one, phase two, and when phase three comes along, get a better understanding of what’s happening with the west side city view project, then we can size our projects accordingly with a better understanding.”
“I just see this as classic government putting the cart before the horse,” Bartels said.
Council member Tom Dell, D-at-large advocated that the interceptor be put in as proposed by CCU because the city is already “having a situation out there where we’re having to tell people that they cannot connect to the sewer because we just don’t have the infrastructure.”
“We would not have brought this up to such a high level if things were all fine right now, with these backups and overflows — we already have issues, literally at peak times,” CCU Director Roger Kelso said. “This pumping station is rated for 1,000 gallons a minute and it sees easily 2,000 gallons a minute.”
Kelso later said that there “is going to be another series of rate increases” sometime in the near future in part to restore one of CCU’s plants.
“I think for all of the citizens listening, the message is, we’d love to tell you that any rate increases we’re doing now are going to hold you for years, but unfortunately— on the sewer side, yes, on the water side, we’ve got more challenges coming down the pipe because of how many years with having raised rates,” Anderson said.
