Columbus is weighing another steep water bill increase that would cost the average household an extra $123 annually, one year after a similar increase was proposed.
An 18% increase would impact customers in Columbus, its suburbs and outlying communities that rely on the city's water systems if approved by Columbus City Council. Projections presented by Columbus Water and Power last year show water bills could increase by more than 10% for the next several years until 2032.
That's on top of a 4% increase for sanitary/sewer costs and a 2% increase for stormwater costs.
The city says much of the new revenue will go towards building a new water treatment plant and other costly projects to accommodate for growth. A similar proposal last year also claimed increases would help pay for a new water treatment plant.
Columbus City Councilmember Christopher Wyche said Thursday he knows people are struggling with costs, but that he supports these increases. Wyche, who chairs council's Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee pointed out a tough choice for the city.
"Either we make the investments necessary to maintain and upgrade our infrastructure to ensure we can provide one of the most basic city services, providing clean drinking water, or we need to find a way to stop the rapid growth we're experiencing," Wyche said.
The $2.5 billion water treatment plant planned for Home Road in the northwest part of the city is the most expensive project in the city's history, but there are other expenses driving costs for the regional water utility. Another is a mandate to find and replace lead pipes around the city, which Columbus Water and Power told WOSU will cost $1 billion.
Jon Lee, deputy director of Columbus Water and Power, said the water treatment plant is needed now to account for future growth. He said without it, water treatment capacity could become insufficient.
"This investment is essential to support continued housing development, commercial and industrial growth and long-term water reliability," Lee said.
Lee said that eventually, the water treatment plant will provide between 48 and 90 million gallons of water treatment capacity per day.
Not every member of council seems to agree such a large rate increase is needed. Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin spoke at the public hearing and didn't commit to supporting the new rate increase. Instead, Hardin tried to question city staff about finding alternative means to fund the new water treatment plant.
"Recognizing the need for infrastructure does not mean we should automatically accept every proposed rate increase as the only way to pay for it. Our residents are facing rising housing costs, rising grocery costs, insurance, childcare and certainly gas prices," Hardin said.
At the hearing, it wasn't clear what avenues to reduce costs for residents exist, beyond existing discount programs. The city is trying to make industrial water users, like data centers, pay more when they use a lot of water, but city staff said those effects won't be felt for at least a year. Hardin also asked to consider whether Governor-elect Amy Acton's administration could aid affordability efforts.
Besides Hardin, members of the city's Utility Advisory Board voiced concerns over this and sent the recommendation to council with a split vote.
Alongside the rate increases, Columbus Water and Power wants to increase the Income Qualified Discount from 30% to 35% of their usage.
You can learn more about this discount program on the city's website.
