LINCOLN -- Sewer rates in Lincoln will increase by 143 percent for the first 1,000 gallons of water and 12.5 percent for subsequent 1,000 gallons following a unanimous vote last week by Lincoln City Council.
Council members also approved an emergency clause which means the new rates will go into effect immediately. Aldermen Doyle Dixon and Gary Eoff were absent from the meeting.
For the first 1,000 gallons of water, the sewer rate will increase from $9.07 to $22.08. The rate increases from $4 to $4.50, for each 1,000 gallons after that.
"The bottom line is that nobody enjoys increases," Mayor Rob Hulse said. "I don't want to see our rates increase as well as nobody else. In order to meet our expenses, it's past time we adjust these rates."
A public hearing was held at 6 p.m., March 17, in the community room on Lincoln Square prior to the council's 7 p.m. meeting across the street in City Hall. Most people at the public hearing were not happy about the proposed sewer rate increase. (A March 11 newspaper article about the public hearing gave an incorrect start time for the hearing).
Hulse explained in the public hearing the purpose of the sewer rate increase was to generate enough revenue to cover expenses of operating the wastewater treatment plant and sewer system. For 2014, the city received $224,895 in sewer revenue but incurred $381,415 in expenses, a deficit of more than $150,000.
With the new rates, the city expects to receive a total of $393,000 in revenue, enough to cover expenses while leaving a small balance for repairs and other needs of the system.
Hulse told people at the public hearing they could make comments about the rate increase but the meeting was not a debate session.
"I'm going to pay it like everyone else but that's where we've got to be," Hulse told about 25 people in the community room.
He compared the new rate
General News on 03/25/2015