Fort Worth water bills are projected to increase, with residents expected to see higher charges in January.
Fort Worth Water Utility presented a water and sewer report to the City Council and asked board members to approve increased rates for FY2025.
The Water Utility is asking for a proposed budget of $42,119,221, which is 7% more than the FY2024 budget. According to the report, the proposed rates would result in a $1.71 monthly increase for the average Fort Worth resident.
The report noted that the aim is small annual rate increases rather than sporadic large increases.
Overall, the proposed budget is nearly $617 million in total.
“The utility had three objectives as it assembled its proposed budget: keep pace with growth and capital investment, meet regulatory requirements, and fund corporate decisions and partner agency increases,” per the report.
The increase is due to the implementation of staff retention strategies, debt services, costs to fund new positions, and contractual services for raw water treatment.
“Just over $5 million of the budget increase is for staff retention strategies and benefit costs, the city manager’s pay-for-performance compensation plan, and 13 new staff positions,” the report continued.
The water team plans to add 13 new staff positions in FY 2025 to address the city’s continuous growth.
Additionally, the increased fees will be allocated towards renovating water treatment plan facilities and services such as pipelines.
“The cost to build new pipelines and facilities or replace or upgrade existing ones is significant,” per the report. “These increases are necessary to keep pace with growth, maintain aging infrastructure and fund capital investment in the regional system.”
Despite the price increase, the water team states that they are working hard to ensure that fees are affordable. Fee increases will be minimized for low-income customers, and those with the highest water usage will have higher fees to encourage efficient water use.
Using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s rate affordability index, Fort Worth’s water fees would remain at the lower end of the “affordable” range.
The Fort Worth City Council will vote on the new rate as early as their August 27 meeting. The public can submit written comments to Fort Worth Water until August 24.