Suffolk residents could see their utility rates climb

SUFFOLK

Residents could see their water and sewer rates climb more than 10 percent each year for the next six years, Public Utilities Director Albert Moor II told the City Council on Wednesday.

And that's only if the city delays several neighborhood projects to hold the rate increases in check, Moor said. If it doesn't, the current forecast shows the rates could nearly triple by 2014, according to a report he presented to the council.

The rate increases are necessary to pay for the city's utility needs, Moor said. The utility fund's other source of revenue - construction - has fallen during the current economic downturn, and the city needs to make up for that loss, he said.

Under the proposed rate schedule proposed by Moor, water and sewer rates will rise a combined 13 percent in the next fiscal year. That, combined with a proposed 15 percent increase in the wastewater treatment fee by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, would equal an increase of $1.08 per 100 cubic feet, or "ccf."

The average bi-monthly residential bill, using 13 ccfs, would rise to $122.84 from $108.77, Moor said.

The City Council is tentatively scheduled to vote on the utility fund and the overall city budget on May 21.

Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563, dave.forster@pilotonline.com