KINGSLAND - Customers on the City of Kingsland water and sewer system could see their combined monthly bills exceed $100 per month should the rates determined by a state-mandated study be implemented.
Trey Foster with Civil Engineering Associates of Conway revealed what the city will need to charge for water and sewer services after conducting a study to determine the rates needed to put the city's water and sewer services in compliance with Act 605 of 2021. He revealed those findings to Mayor Sharon Crosby and the Kingsland City Council during its regular monthly meeting last Thursday night.
Based on the analysis, Foster said the city will basically need to double its base rate and usage rate for both water and sewer to meet the Act 605 requirements. For water, the base rate would increase from $17 to $34 per month, and the cost for each 1,000 gallons of water used would go from $4 to $8. For wastewater, the base rate would be raised from $17 to $50, and the cost for every 1,000 gallons of wastewater would increase from $3 to $7.
It was noted during the discussion that the last time the city had a water rate increase was 2018 to help pay for refurbishing the city water tank, and the last sewer rate increase was in 2008.
The proposals put before the city council also included rate increases in subsequent years over a five-year plan, though Foster said those increases would not be nearly as substantial as those in the first year.
The Kingsland City Council did not take any action on the findings from the rate study during last week's meeting. Foster said they could accept the results of his rate study, or have another study conducted.
Foster said the average customer in Kingsland uses about 3,000 gallons of water per month. Based on that average usage, he said the monthly cost for both water and sewer combined would be about $115. He said some bills could be lower than that and some could be higher, depen...
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