Members of the Plymouth Common Council were presented with a plan to increase both city water and sewer rates by Eric Walsh partner with Baker Tilly and Tyler Coffel senior consultant with Baker Tilly.
The last rate adjustments were after Bay Valley and Demonte left the city in 2017. The sewer increase was a three-year phase-in with the last increase in 2019 and the water increase was in a single increase. Walsh said it’s been about 5 years since we talked about rates.
Coffel said the proposal is a two-year phase-in of 5% each year for the sewer rates. He said the Capital Improvement Plan has increased from $322,000 a year up to $556,000. The proposed increase will impact the average residential user by $1.50 a month with each increase. With the first increase planned yet this year and the second increase next year the total impact will be about $3 per month to families using about 4,000 gallons of water. Coffel said the statewide average is $36.65 while the City of Plymouth’s would be $31.85. Still under the state average.
The increase in city water bills was proposed at 10 to 15 percent. Baker Tilly proposed a 5% rate increase this year followed by two 4% increases in the following years. Coffel said the increase is due to the Capital costs which have increased from approximately $175,000 a year up to $400,000. The impact on the average residential user will be about $1.00 per month per phase-in. Putting both proposed increases on the average residential user will increase their bill by about $2.50 per month in the first two years and in the final year with the final water increase it will be another dollar.
Looking at the current rates, the average residential customer in Plymouth is paying about $55.80 for a 4,000-gallon usage bill and at the end of the proposed three-year phase-in, that bill will increase to $61.77.
No action was taken by the City Council. Eric Walsh said if the council decides to take action it will take two meetings with the formal introduction of the ordinance at one meeting and then a public hearing and adoption in the second meeting.
