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Liberty Hill council adopts water, wastewater rate increases to fund major capital work
Summary
The City of Liberty Hill approved across-the-board rate increases — 10.5% for water and 6.5% for wastewater — intended to fund multi‑million-dollar capital improvement programs identified in recent utility master plans.
City Council of Liberty Hill on April 23 approved an ordinance adopting new retail water and wastewater rates following presentations from city staff and consultants.
Consultant Grady Smith told the council the rate package follows updated water and wastewater master plans and an associated five‑year capital improvement program. "The ordinance that you have before you includes, 6 and a half percent increase on wastewater and a 10 and a half percent increase on water," Smith said.
The increases are structured as an across‑the‑board percentage rise rather than as structural changes to rate tiers: "We did not make any structural changes to the rates. Everyone's rates would basically go up by the same percentage," Smith said. Smith and staff explained the hikes are meant to cover planned capital work identified in the master plans, including roughly $70 million of water projects (mostly growth‑driven with some mains rehabilitation) and about $500 million of wastewater projects, largely tied to a planned advanced water purification facility.
City finance staff and consultants said the council had received multiple presentations and workshops on the recommendations before the vote. The council opened a public hearing on the ordinance; no members of the public spoke to the item before the hearing was closed. After brief council discussion the motion to adopt the ordinance passed on a unanimous vote (tally reported as 6–0).
Council and staff noted that the ordinance implements the rate adjustments discussed in prior workshops and that no changes to rate structure were adopted this evening. The council vote authorizes staff to finalize the ordinance and begin implementation per the ordinance's effective date and noticing provisions.
The rate action follows the city's recent master‑planning work and is intended to provide revenue to match the CIP identified in those studies. Staff and the consultant said adjustments to the budget and further CIP tracking will follow as projects move into design and construction.
Votes at a glance: Ordinance 2025‑O‑018 (water and wastewater rate changes) — Passed, 6–0.
Next steps: Staff will finalize ordinance publication and implement the new rates per the ordinance schedule; the council and staff signaled continued oversight of CIP spending and potential future rate reviews if project scopes or cost estimates change.
