Johnson City approves first readings of water and wastewater funding ordinances to finance multi‑year repairs and upgrades

The Johnson City Commission on April 17, 2025 approved first readings of two ordinances to fund multi‑year capital improvements to the city’s water and wastewater systems.

City Director of Water and Sewer Tom Witherspoon told commissioners the combined program would deliver roughly $54 million in debt-funded capital and about $26 million in rate-funded work. "The capital improvements in water sewer are for the protection of local lakes, streams, and public health," Witherspoon said during the presentation at the Water and Sewer Services Complex.

Why it matters: Commission and staff said the work aims to preserve regulatory compliance and system reliability, reduce outage risk during extreme weather and aging-equipment failures, and maintain fire-protection capacity tied to storage and transmission infrastructure.

Details of the package: Witherspoon described separate water- and wastewater-side project lists. On the water side, staff identified eight debt-funded projects…