Water and sewer rate increase stalled until December

By Audrey Carpenter

The Leesburg Town Council could not come into agreement on a 4.1% rate increase for water and sewer, and voted instead to further discuss it at its Dec. 12 meeting.

For Leesburg residents, this would be an increase of $10.26 in their quarterly bill starting in July 2024 and increase to $13.82 by fiscal 2029. The increase is necessary to keep up with inflation and cover the cost of necessary projects, upgrades and federal mandates, said Leesburg Director of Utilities Amy Wykes.

Wykes explained that lowering the rate increase below 4.1% might impede water safety. Due to inflation, necessary chemicals for the water treatment plant have doubled and tripled in price, and the current rates are not sufficient to cover debt service and other needs, she said.

Well maintained utilities affords the Town a triple A bond rating which allows the Town the ability to borrow money at a low interest rate, which saves taxpayers money.

In a Nov. 14 presentation made to the Council by NewGen Strategies and Solutions, a utility consultant that works with municipalities, there was an initial proposal for a double-digit rate increase, but the town lowered the number by using cash on hand and deferring some projects.

Typically, the Utilities Department is solely funded by customer fees.

Mayor Kelly Burk said, “It’s hard to vote for an increase, I know it is. People are struggling to meet their financial goals. But we have to ensure that our water and sewer facilities have the equipment needed to provide clean water.” When Burk called for a straw poll to see who supported the increase, only she and Vice Mayor Neil Steinberg supported it; the rest of the Council asked for more discussion.

The Council listened to three members of the public who advised against the rate increase. To that, Councilman Todd Cimino-Johnson added that though the rate increase is a small amount, he understands that a rate increase at all just adds another financial pressure onto struggling residents.

“I know what it’s like to have a Council come in and increase the rates. Those are the people I have to think about, and I don’t think we’re doing a good job representing those people when we say it’s ‘only’ an increase of $10 a quarter. That means a lot to people making minimum wage,” he said.