Your Columbus water bill is going up in 2020. Here’s what to know.

Editor’s Note: The Board of Water Commissioners voted November 18 to approve the rate increases effective January 1, 2020.

The Columbus Water Works is planning rate hikes that would raise residential water bills for a family of four by over $1.75 per month in 2020, with another increase also likely in 2021.

According to a presentation by Columbus Water Works President Steve Davis to Columbus Council, the increase will continue to help the Water Works finance $50 million in bonds issued in 2016 for 25 water projects around the city.

Those projects include:

• $22.2 million for the South Columbus Water Resources Facility
• About $10.5 million for the North Columbus Water Resources Facility
• $5.6 million for sanitary sewer collection work
• $5.05 million for the water distribution system
• About $6.7 million for miscellaneous projects.

The hike would also fund increasing operating expenses, which were budgeted at $34.1 million in 2019.

“Our water plant is over 100 years old, our waste water plant is about 50 years old, we’ve got water mains in service that were put into the system in the late 1800s— so we’re all about extending the life of these assets and getting as much value out of them as we can and trying to replace or renew them before they fail,” Steve Davis told councilors last month.

Jon Davis, executive vice president of Raftelis financial consulting firm, told council that the Water Works’ 5-year financial plan depends on an annual revenue increase of 4.95%.

Actual changes in customer bills will differ based on customer type and monthly usage.

Without future rate and revenue increases, the Water Works would begin to draw against cash reserves immediately for operating and debt service needs, ultimately impacting their ability to borrow money at all, Jon Davis said.

An average household water bill in Columbus for a family of four, assuming the use of about 6,000 gallons a month, is currently $57.13.

The proposed rate hike would bring the bill to $58.90 per month, an increase of $1.77, according to the presentation. That bill includes water, sewer and combined sewer overflow charges.

In 2016, when the bonds were issued, the same bill was $50.01. The increases aren’t scheduled to stop, with another increase planned in 2021 that could push bills over $60 per month.

According to the presentation, rates in Columbus continue to be among the lowest in Georgia.

The most-billed usage within the water system is residential customers that use around 3,000 gallons per month. Those customers, who on average pay $32.55 per month, would see an increase to $34.22 next year.

“We certainly don’t assume these rate increases are an automatic, we give them a lot of attention and we give them a lot of scrutiny and we try to minimize them without compromising a reduction in service and a failure of infrastructure,” Steve Davis said.

Cost of similar usage bills

According to the presentation, here are monthly water charges in other Georgia cities. The numbers do not take into account possible increases in those cities in 2020.

Phenix City - $25.29

Savannah- $38.44

Macon- $39.10

Augusta- $51.40

Atlanta -$69.66

This story was originally published November 15, 2019 at 6:25 PM.