Mayor George Flaggs Jr. will hold a public meeting April 19 to discuss the reasons for increasing the city’s water and sewer rates.

Flaggs announced the meeting before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s Tuesday meeting. The hour-long meeting will be from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the City Hall Annex, 1415 Walnut St.

“I will be here to explain the increase. You can call, you can text, you can email … I will answer all the questions by myself to the rate increase and why it is necessary,” he said.

He said he has already talked with some groups about the rate increase.

“I want to make it clear to the public; we have come to the conclusion — at least I have at this point — that there is no other option than to raise water and sewer rates,” he said, adding he was reviewing the report from a 10-member committee to determine the rate structure he will recommend to aldermen Michael Mayfield and Alex Monsour.

“We cannot continue to provide this quality service at the cost it’s costing us,” Flaggs said. “This infrastructure was never set up for the car washes that we have today, and it was not set up for the industrial use that we utilize now, or commercial use that we utilize now, or for swimming pools.”

The system, he said, was set up to provide the basic necessity of water and sewer.

He said the city’s utilities budget is insufficient, based on the present rate structure, to support water and sewer service.

During the April 19 meeting, Flaggs said, “I’m going to show you what it has cost the city of Vicksburg down through the years to provide the service, and you will see that we have actually lost (money). In fact, a couple of months ago, we transferred money over there (to water service) because we operated at a loss.

“We cannot continue to operate at a loss as it relates to water and sewer service.”

Flaggs on April 2 announced the city would be raising the water and sewer rates after receiving a report on utility rates from the 10-member committee appointed to review the city’s rate structure.

The report was based on a rate study performed by Jackson engineers Allen & Hoshall, which was hired by the board to evaluate the city’s water and sewer rate structure.

Besides the increased use, the city is also faced with meeting the terms of a consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency and paying for upgrades to the electrical system at the city’s water treatment plant on Haining Road. The board must also come up with about $2 million in matching funds for the auxiliary waterline project, which is funded in part by a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers grant.

City water bills are based on use, with residents paying a minimum of $8.75 for the first 2,000 gallons used and $3.22 per 1,000 gallons for the next 8,000 gallons used. A sliding scale is used to determine the cost per gallon for use of more than 8,000 gallons.

Commercial users pay a minimum of $35.80 for the first 4,000 gallons, and $4.25 per 1,000 gallons for the next 8,000 gallons used. Like the residential rates, use over 8,000 gallons is determined using a sliding scale.

Sewer rates are based on water use. Residential customers inside the city pay a minimum of $12.90 ($6.45 per 1,000 gallons) for the first 2,000 gallons and $3.60 per each 1,000 gallons after 2,000 gallons. Residential customers outside the city limits pay $25.80 for the first 2,000 gallons and $7.20 per each 1,000 gallons for each 1,000 gallons over 2,000.

Commercial customers inside the city pay $28.25 for the first 2,000 gallons, and $3.60 per each 1,000 gallons for each 1,000 gallons over. Commercial customers outside the city limits pay $56.50 for the first 2,000 gallons and $7.20 per 1,000 gallons for each 1,000 gallons over 2,000.

All customers also pay a $5 EPA fee approved in 2015 to help cover costs for upgrading and repairing the city’s 111-year-old sewer system.