Elmore City water and trash customers will see an increase on their bills starting July 1.
The Elmore City Council approved an ordinance amending the town’s municipal utility rates for water, sewer and refuse collection during their June 9 regular meeting.
“The way we structured the new increase, it will protect those on a fixed income so that their bill only goes up about $9.50, if they use 1000 gallons of water or less,” Elmore City Clerk Lisa Rollings said. According to the ordinance, which was published as a legal notice in the June 19 issue of the News Star, the monthly minimum charge for water will increase by $2, from $35 to $37, and the monthly minimum charge for sewer system will increase by $2.55 from $17.45 to $20.
The per-gallon charge for both water and sewer will also increase slightly, and four additional tiers have been added to the rate schedule, which will primarily impact those using more than 9000 gallons of water per month.
Elmore City ordinances provide for an annual adjustment of water and sewer rates each July 1. The last increase implemented, according to the current ordinance, was in February of 2024.
Elmore City garbage rates will also be increasing. The monthly charge for a polycart with one weekly pickup will increase by $3.45, from $11.55 to $15. The rate for additional polycarts will increase by $1.41, from $6.59 per polycart to $8. Dumpster rates will increase by $7 to $33 depending on the size. The largest increases will be in the 4-yard dumpsters, which will increase from $43.20 to $70 per month, and the 8-yard dumpsters, which will go from $86.40 per month to $120.
Rollings said the largest increases in refuse collection rates will affect only a small number of utility customers. She said the increases are necessary to help the town meet the cost of providing the service, which is contracted to a third party.
“We were losing money on garbage collection services. By the time we paid for the community roll off, we were losing $308.93 a month, for a total loss of $3,707.16 a year,” Rollings said.