Forsyth County residents will begin seeing a higher bill as their water and sewer rates increase in the fall.
During a recent commission meeting, the Director of the Water and Sewer department, Tim Perkins, presented the board with the proposed rate model.
He stressed the importance of the increase saying, "We haven't been keeping up with inflation. We haven't been keeping up with increasing costs."
Perkins says his department worked closely with the consulting firm Stantek and made sure to keep the customer in mind by suggesting a planned annual increase to avoid large future increases.
Starting in November, customers will see a 3.5% increase in their water rates each year for the next 10 years. Sewer customers will see a 30% increase in base sewer rates for 2018 and a 5% increase each year after for 10 years.
Even though customers won't likely be happy about the increases, Perkins says they are necessary because, "It's been 12 years since we raised our per thousand gallon base fee on residential water rates." He added, "We did adjust our irrigation rates in 2015. It's actually been 22 years since we raised our per thousand gallon rate on sewer."
No one spoke for or against the rate changes during the public hearing section of the meeting.
Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the resolution and those increases are set to begin November 1st of this year.
