COLORADO SPRINGS – Tuesday, the Colorado Springs City Council unanimously approved the 2019 budget and rates for Colorado Springs Utilities customers.
The city said local water and wastewater systems are old and in need of ongoing repair and refurbishment.
According to the city, the typical residential wastewater customer will see an increase of about $0.88 per month. The city said this increase, the first since 2010, is largely due to inflationary costs.
“As the result of hard work by Springs Utilities’ employees to reprioritize planned projects and lower projected fuel costs, the overall utilities budget is the lowest in recent history – nearly $42 million less than the 2018 budget,” Chief Planning and Finance Officer Tamela Monroe said. However, water and wastewater budgets are $6.7 million and $1.4 million higher, respectively, to support the ability to provide safe, reliable, quality services.
Typical residential water customers will experience a monthly increase of $3.80, according to the city. This funding supports a “significant” upgrade to the Phillip H. Tollefson Water Treatment plan, as well as work to repair water mains, according to the city.
The city also said that most commercial and industrial customers will also experience increases to base rates for wastewater and water services.
Springs Utilities has an online bill calculator available to see how these changes will affect individuals and commercial customers. An Understanding Your Bill video is also available to assist customers.
