By a vote of 9-1, with councilwoman Donna Hawley casting the lone dissenting vote, Rolla’s City Council approved a 30-cent increase in sewer fees at their meeting Monday night.
According to Public Works Director Steve Hargis, customers will now pay at a rate of $3 per 1,000 gallons.  Since the average homeowner is billed for about 6,000 gallons, the increase for the average Rolla homeowner will be about $1.80 per month.
Hawley asked why there had been an increase every year since 2002 (for a total of 80 cents per 1,000 gallons).
“With this new increase, that’s an increase of 40 percent over the last three years,” said Hawley.
“We are a stand-alone department,” Hargis explained. He said the boost was necessary to cover cost increases for power, maintenance, salaries, and materials.
According to city officials, the increase in power costs came from a rate increase from Intercounty Electric, which services two of the three water treatment plants.
The southeast plant receives its power from RMU, which has not had a rate increase since August of 2006 and actually enacted a rate decrease in May of 2007, according to Rodney Bourne, RMU’s public relations coordinator.
Another issue, said Hargis, is that water usage has dropped.
“Will you be asking for another increase next year,” asked Hawley.
“I hope not,” said Hargis, “But I’m not in control of a lot of our costs.”