Conroe business owners will bear the brunt of a water and sewer rate increase for 2024 as city council members work to keep the increase for residents below 4 percent.
Commercial customers will see a 6.75 percent increase beginning in October with residents seeing their bills go up 3.25 percent.
Collin Boothe, assistant city administrator and director of finance, said the proposed rate would increase the residential bill for 15,000-gallon users from $206 a month to $209.
Commercial customers using 100,000 gallons a month will see their bill climb from $1,540 to $1,673.
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Councilman Harry Hardman said having the rate increase more for commercial makes sense.
“They are our largest users,” Hardman said. “It minimizes the effect it will have on residents.”
The city is expected to adopt its $314 million budget along with the proposed rates Sept. 14 keeping its current tax rate of 42.72 cents per $100 valuation.
The proposed budget is a 2.8 percent increase over the current year’s budget of $306.2 million.
Boothe said the rates fund the city’s water and sewer services and covers debt related to water and sewer projects.
“We set our rate based on the proposed expense,” Boothe said. “We do our best looking at the historical data and projecting those expenses out.”
The rates are dependent on the weather with drought conditions increasing water usage and causing more water to be pumped that the city must pay for through the San Jacinto River Authority, Boothe said.
“It’s been very hot and very dry this summer,” Boothe said.
The rate increase comes on the heels of the city juggling a “bare bones” budget to stop what several council members called an “unsustainable” spending pattern.
“This year we have a unique budgetary situation,” City Administrator Gary Scott said during the city’s July 20 budget workshop. “Let me be clear the city is not broke but we need to tighten our belts to ensure our future sustainability.”
While the budget includes merit raises, Scott said the budget does not include cost of living or market increase raises.
