Hattiesburg, Mississippi – In December, water and sewer customers will see the first of a three-year rate increase, which was voted on unanimously by the Hattiesburg City Council during its Fiscal Year 2022 budget approval in September.
The rate increase is a phased-in three-year increase, which was proposed to the council as a part of a capital improvements plan for the City’s water and sewer systems which is necessary to accommodate infrastructure needs required by the City’s consent decree.
The proposed increase includes a three-year phased-in increase:
- Fall 2021: +$1.48 water / +$1.48 sewer
- Fall 2022: +$1.60 water / +$1.60 sewer
- Fall 2023: +$1.73 water / +$1.73 sewer
The total minimum bill after the final increase during the Fall of 2023 will be $46.66.
The recommended increase comes after looking at several external pressures from the City’s consent decree, which was announced last August as a settlement with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to significantly reduce sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and to improve the overall operations of Hattiesburg’s sewer system.
It also comes after looking at the capital improvement needs for water and sewer operations outside of the federally-mandated priority areas, the regular operation and maintenance of the water and sewer systems, increased fire protection capacity and debt reduction.
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