Anderson water rates to nearly double by 2029
Water customers in Anderson will see increased bills for the next four years, thanks to a rate increase approved by the state utility commission. As IPR’s Thomas Ouellette reports, increases begin immediately and will nearly double average water utility costs in Anderson by 2029.
The city of Anderson says the rate increase will help cover the cost of the city’s previously announced $164 million water infrastructure overhaul.
In a statement, the city says the immediate increase will be just over 20 percent, and that will go up every January until 2029.
In that statement, Mayor Thomas Broderick Jr says the increases were necessary to “address the aged and sometimes failing water infrastructure of our water utility.”
The project involves replacing a more-than-50-year-old system of old piping, closing several aged wells, and creating a new water treatment plant. Last year, an engineering consulting firm reported the city saw more than 100 water main breaks and over 240 service line breaks every year, costing the city about $440,000 annually.
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Calculating the increase, Broderick says a household using 4,000 gallons of water currently pays about $25 a month. This immediate increase will bring that up cost to just over $30. By 2029, that same household will pay about $55, reflecting a total increase of 118 percent.
The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor did suggest limiting that increase to only 75 percent, but the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission granted the city approval to use the higher rate.
According to the OUCC, multi-year rate increases are not unusual, and other cities like Evansville and Fort Wayne have implemented similar phased rate increases.
Broderick says this is only the third rate increase the city has seen in the past 29 years.
Funds accrued through the new water rate will be joining tax money set aside from the Anderson Redevelopment Commission, federal COVID-19 funds from the American Rescue Plan, and $45 million from the State Revolving Fund Loan Program for the water infrastructure project.
Thomas Ouellette is our reporter and producer. Contact him at thomas.ouellette@bsu.edu.
