City approves
7%
water rate hike
Boerne City Council last week approved a measure to increase water rates by 7% for a large portion of its customers.
Council voted unanimously at its Dec. 10 meeting to approve rates as presented by Finance Director Sarah Buckelew that mirror those presented to council in November.
But instead of applying a straight 7% increase across the board for residential water hookups, the city proposed a 4% increase for users consuming less than 25,000 gallons a month and 35% and 45% hikes for people using in excess of 25,000 — the 45% reserved for the handful of residential customers who use in excess of 100,000 gallons a month.
The proposed increases, which begin with the February 2025 usage, will take the average residential customer’s combined water and wastewater monthly bill from $90.46 to $94.71.
“ We liked the tiers that were presented (in November) that signal conservation at the higher volume user tiers,” Buckelew told council.
For reclaimed water service, the city proposed a 7% rate increase in order to fund its operations next year.
The plan calls for an average annual rate increase of 7 percent for water and 7 percent for wastewater over the next five years.
This proposed rate adjustment followed a rate study conducted by an independent third party that the city said is necessary to provide financial stability for the city’s utilities.
The last water and wastewater rate studies were conducted in 2018 and 2015. Boerne Utilities last increased rates in 2021.
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