Beginning June 1, the cost of water and sewer service for Vicksburg residents is going up. At the same time, the cost of residential and small commercial garbage collection will go down.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen Tuesday adopted ordinances setting new increased water and sewer rates ranging from 4.9 percent to a maximum of 30 percent for residential and commercial customers based on water use and reducing the city’s garbage rates by 5 percent. The new rates become effective June 1.

Board Attorney Nancy Thomas said the new rate structure was the result of a study of the city’s utility rates by Jackson-based engineers Allen & Hoshall that showed the city’s utility rates were insufficient to fund the actual cost of producing and treating the city’s drinking water, treating its waste water and meeting the cost of system improvements.

The cost of the requirements mandated by a consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency to improve the city’s 107-year-old sewer system also figured into the decision.

“This rate increase came with some reservation, but at the same time, when we looked at what is expected of us because of the (EPA consent decree) order and the condition of the utilities, we thought it was the best course of action to take so that we won’t have to have these emergencies in the future,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said.

“Compared to other water producers, our rates were lower; compared to other waste water facilities, some (rates) were lower, some higher,” Thomas said. “Our water and sewer rates had not changed since 2010, and our tap fees (the fee charged by the city to tap a water line to a meter) had not changed since 1988.

“So the (city) committee that looked at utility rates is recommending a rate increase for those users who use more than 2,000 gallons of water a month,” she said. “It will not affect the lower users who use less than 2,000 gallons, which is normally the elderly and disabled. Their bill will stay the same with the exception of the $5 EPA fee.”

The $5 fee that will be paid by all users and go into an account to fund improvements to the city’s sewer system required under a consent decree approved in 2012 between the city and the EPA. The consent decree was the result of an EPA investigation that indicated the city had allowed untreated sewage to get into local streams and the Mississippi River.

Under the new rate structure, residential customers using between 2,000 and 10,000 gallons per month will see a 4.9 percent increase in water and a 10 percent increase in sewer rates. Any residential customer using more than 20,000 gallons of water per month will see a 30 percent increase in their water rate and a 10 percent increase in the sewer rate.

“Seventy-five percent of our customers use less than 10,000 gallons per month, so it (the increase) would not have a great impact on those customers,” Thomas said.

Commercial water and sewer service customers using less than 4,000 gallons per month will see no increase. Any commercial customer using more than 12,000 gallons of water per month will see a 30 percent increase in water rates and a 10 percent increase in sewer rates.

She said the utility committee, which was composed of city employees, recommended charging city sewer customers living outside the city limits a flat rate of $45 per month. Most of the customers outside the city receive water from one of the county’s five rural water districts or the CS&I water Association in Claiborne County.

“We’re having issues with reading other utility districts’ water meters and trying to get bills out,” she said.

Residential garbage rates will drop from $17.50 to $16.50, and by $2.43 for small commercial customers, from $42.58 to $40.15.

Thomas said the city has several necessary infrastructure improvements for the utility system coming in the future.

She said the utility system’s capital needs for the next 5 to 10 years include $6.3 million for the water system, which includes upgrades at the water treatment plant, five additional water wells, additional pumps and a control system and construction of an elevated water storage tank.

The city is also preparing to advertise for bids for the 592 waterline project to install an auxiliary main water line for the city. The project was estimated in March to cost about $4.2 million, and city officials expect it go out for bids in late May or early June. More than $2 million of the project is being paid through a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers grant.

Thomas said about $16 million over the next 10 years will be required for improvements to the sewer system. Most of that, she said, is to comply with the requirements under the consent decree, which requires the city to assess, map, repair and upgrade the 107 year-old system over the next 10 years. The sewer line assessment is expected to cost about $3.1 million a year and involves testing 1/10th of the system each year. The $3.1 million, she added, does not include repairs to the system.

“None of us take this lightly,” Flaggs said of the increase. “This is an absolute necessity in order for us to keep the quality of water that we enjoy in Vicksburg and the quality of sewer service we enjoy in Vicksburg. We chose to go this route rather than a property assessment, because when you do this route, it’s a fee for service. You only pay for the service if you use it.”

South Ward Alderman Willis Thompson called the rate increase a preventive measure to help cover future repair and maintenance costs.

“I see this as being proactive,” he said. “We see a problem and we come up with a solution to fix that problem. The alternative is you have problem and you ignore it, and it becomes a big problem down the road, and we may be forced to borrow millions of dollars to fix everything at one time.

“We’re doing those things that are necessary to take care of problems,” he said.

“I feel comfortable about what we’re doing and the way we’re doing it,” North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield said. “If you don’t do it right, it comes back to haunt you quickly.”