Troy residents may see water rates rise 7% every year for five years, starting in January. The Finance Committee of City Council takes this up Monday, October 12, at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall, 100 South Market Street.
Public Service and Safety Director Patrick Titterington and City Auditor John Frigge sent Council a memo dated October 6. They want water rates raised 7% each year from 2027 through 2031. Council has only been asked to send the idea to a committee so far, so nothing has passed yet. The memo gives one example. The city rate for the 201 to 5,000 cubic foot tier is now $45.94 per 1,000 cubic feet, and it would reach $64.43 by 2031. That is about 40% higher after five years. Seven percent a year stacks up, the way interest does on a loan.
You can read the memo here:
Sewer rates tell a different story. Sewer bills are already rising 5% a year, but the new plan cuts the 2027 sewer increase to 2% and keeps it there through 2031.
The city says it needs the money. Water rates have not gone up since 2017, which is nine years. The water system pays for itself with no help from the General Fund, but costs keep climbing. The memo points to big projects coming in the next five years. One is a $2.5 million replacement of the CO2 tank at the water plant, because the old one is at the end of its life. Another is ongoing water meter replacement, split between the water and sewer funds. A third is a $7.3 million renovation of the city maintenance building in 2030, with the water, sewer and stormwater funds sharing about $3.5 million of it.
Doing nothing looks bad on paper. Without increases, the water fund would run a deficit of about $80,000 in 2028. By 2031 the hole would grow to more than $6 million.
Still, the 7% number stands out. A rate survey of 70 water systems shows water costs rose 3.5% on average from 2024 to 2025. Troy’s proposed 7% is double that. One caution is fair here. The survey shows what rates did last year. It does not show what other cities plan for the next five years. Still, it is the best yardstick we have for what is normal in our region.
Troy also starts from a low spot. The survey priced a typical three-month bill at 22,500 gallons. Troy’s water cost was $133.74, and the average was $163.22. Troy’s sewer cost was $146.66 against an average of $173.59. Here is a rough picture. If Troy’s quarterly water cost grows 7% a year for five years, that same household pays about $41 more every quarter by 2030. That is roughly $160 more per year; it may not sound like a large amount, but for some households, that could be a problem. That estimate is my own calculation, built from the survey’s typical bill and the memo’s percentages, and your own bill will differ with your usage.
There are questions worth asking on Monday. The plan does not fully fix the problem. The city wants the water fund to hold a reserve of about $3.71 million by 2031. With 7% increases, the projected balance is about $1.65 million, or 44% of the target, and in 2030 it drops as low as $233,000. The memo says staff are satisfied with this given the uncertainty, and residents can fairly ask what satisfied means here. The 2027 balance also falls fast, from about $5.9 million to about $2.2 million in one year, mostly because of nearly $5 million in planned capital work. Is all of that work needed on that schedule?
Would smaller steps over a longer period work? The city’s own reasons for a five-year plan are fair. It gives customers notice, supports the bond rating, and lets staff plan. Those are good reasons for a multi-year plan, but they don’t prove the number has to be 7%. Residents might also ask how the city will explain a nine-year pause followed by a 40% climb. Rates that sit still for years can feel like savings. Often they just push the bill into the future.
The committee meets Monday at 6:00 p.m. at 100 South Market Street and an affirmative vote from the committee does not necessarily mean the increases will automatically go through. All the committee’s action will do is advance the recommendation to the full council for a final vote in the future.
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