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Poplar Bluff utility manager recommends water-rate increase; council to consider July 7
Summary
Municipal Utilities General Manager Bill Bach told the Poplar Bluff City Council that decreased water consumption since the COVID period has reduced revenue and prompted a recommendation to raise water rates; the council voted to move the proposal to a July 7 voting session.
Municipal Utilities General Manager Bill Bach told the Poplar Bluff City Council on June 16 that decreased water use since the COVID-19 period has cut utility revenue and prompted a recommended water-rate increase to maintain bond covenant compliance and service reliability.
Bach said the utility retained Utility Financial Solutions LLC to update a cost-of-service and rate-design study and that the city previously implemented a rate schedule in June 2023 based on a May 2023 study. “These financial bond covenants require the utility to maintain certain revenue levels,” Bach said, adding that continued revenue shortfalls could harm the utility’s credit rating and increase future borrowing costs.
The recommendation, presented by Bach and endorsed by the municipal utilities advisory board, would change billing to charge by meter size and recover lost revenue linked to reduced demand, conservation and the loss of local industry. Bach said the new billing software will allow meter-size billing, “which is the industry standard.”
Council members voted to advance the item to a voting session on July 7, 2025; the motion to move the proposal passed unanimously at the June 16 meeting. No final rate decision was made at the June 16 meeting.
The study materials and spreadsheets showing proposed rate changes were distributed in the council packets. Bach and staff said they sought to minimize community burden while protecting long-term system stability and ensuring compliance with outstanding bond obligations. The council and staff did not set a final rate in the June 16 meeting; instead they scheduled the formal vote for July 7.
