Georgetown increases utility rates to pay for agreement

GEORGETOWN, Texas - On Tuesday, Georgetown City Council decided to increase water and wastewater rates starting April 1.

"Nobody wants to pay more, nobody wants to add anything on their bills, but when it’s something critical like water, I think we’re all fortunate to be able to have the opportunity to have more water," said Scott Stribling, a Georgetown resident.

The average Georgetown single-family household can expect to see about an additional $15 on monthly utility bills.

"This increase is larger than normal," said David Morgan, the Georgetown city manager. "We’ve had, over the last two to three years, we’ve had water and wastewater rate increases, and they’ve been between 10-15 percent. This was a little bit larger than that."

Georgetown said it's expecting about 5,000 new utility customers a year until 2042.

This money will cover the cost of an agreement with EPCOR, a utility company, which will help the city avoid water supply shortages through 2050.

"That comes at a cost of about $10.5 million a year, and so that impact is really the biggest driver causing this water rate increase," said Morgan.

Some are concerned about the increase.

"I'm always weary every time you’re doing a rate increase on both water and sewage," said one resident at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

But others are more worried about having access to water.

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"It seems like the rate isn’t really that high," said Kim Repede, a Georgetown resident. "It doesn't really bother me. I'm concerned that there’s, like everybody, about the water crisis, so if it’s only $15 a month on a bill, that’s great."

Although the new cost is higher than normal, the city said its water rates are still competitive with neighboring cities.

"That is something that we’re very conscious about, but we’re most conscious about having a healthy water system that provides safe water to our customers not only for consumption but also for irrigation," said Morgan.

The city said rates could still go up over the next few years.

As we head into hotter and drier weather, the city added residents should consider xeriscaping or planting native to Texas.

That could help residents reduce their irrigation bill and water usage.

Georgetown is also still on a one-day watering schedule.