Cookeville Looking At Potential Water, Sewer Rate Increase

Cookeville City Council will consider an ordinance Thursday adjusting water and sewer rates beginning this May.

Water & Sewer Department Director Ronnie Kelly said the additional revenue would go towards additions at the city’s waste water plant and sewer rehab projects.

“[Adjusting rates] is not something that we look forward to doing. We haven’t had a rate increase since 2013,” Kelly said. “There are big projects that need to be accomplished over the next few years. So we’re trying to anticipate and be able to keep a healthy water and waste water department. We were going to have to generate revenues from some source, and our source is selling water-sewer services.”

Prices for customers both within and outside of Cookeville corporate limits would be impacted by the ordinance.

The ordinance would establish water rate increases each year for five years through 2023 up to $3.82 per 1,000 gallons for inner-city customers. Customers outside city limits would pay $5.73 per 1,000 gallons by 2023.

If approved, the ordinance would be implemented as early as May 1. However, Kelly notes customers may not see an immediate impact to their bills.

“That means it would go into effect and we would be able to start billing at that rate structure,” Kelly said. “What we will have to do internally as those routes are billed, we would blend that into the billing cycle, so it would not all hit on May 1. Rates would change, but people wouldn’t notice it depending on what their billing cycle is.”

Sewer rates would also increase under the ordinance beginning May 1. Rates would begin at $4.92 for 1,000 gallons beginning this year and cap off at $6.15 per 1,000 gallons in 2021.

City Council will consider the ordinance on first reading during their regularly-scheduled meeting Thursday at 5:30 p.m.