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 totaling about $13 million that include a new storage tank, upgrades to transmission and pumping, and technology upgrades at treatment plants. On the wastewater side, commissioners heard the plan calls for six debt-funded projects totaling about $41 million, including major renovations at the Knob Creek Wastewater Plant and replacement or rehabilitation of large pump stations; portions of some wastewater facilities date to 1971, Witherspoon said.

Funding approach and customer impact: The city used rate consultants (Raftelus) to recommend a funding schedule designed to spread costs over a four‑year window. Witherspoon told the commission the proposed adjustments would generally range from "anywhere from around $2 to $5 a month" for typical accounts and translate to rate increases of roughly 3.75% to 5.75% depending on customer class. He said some capital work will be debt-funded while other recurring replacement and tank re‑coating work will be paid from rate-funded capital.

Staff provided examples of tap‑fee changes included in the ordinances: a typical water tap inside city limits would increase by about $140 in year one and a typical sewer tap by about $400; staff said there are approximately 26 different tap categories that the ordinance updates.

System scale and operations: Witherspoon said the utility serves roughly 48,000 water accounts and about 30,000 sewer accounts across a service area near 166 square miles and produces about 12–13 million gallons per day from the Watauga source plus about 3 million gallons per day from the Unicoi plant (total about 15–16 million gallons per day under normal conditions). He described investments made after events such as the December 2023 freeze and recent flooding as examples of why the upgrades are needed.

Timeline and risk: Commissioners were told projects vary in duration; some may take as little as three years while major plant work could extend seven to eight years. Witherspoon and staff emphasized these are staged, planned projects rather than immediate full‑system replacements.

Action taken: Commissioners approved first reading of ordinance 49-11-25 (water) and first reading of ordinance 49-12-25 (wastewater). The commission voted in favor on each first reading: Commissioner Brock — yes; Commissioner Fowler — yes; Vice Mayor Cox — yes; Mayor Hunter — yes. The ordinances will require subsequent readings for final adoption.

What remained open: Witherspoon and staff answered commissioner questions during the presentation but did not set a final adoption date during the meeting. The ordinances as presented establish the funding framework, tap‑fee changes and the specific capital projects lists included in the first-reading materials.

Ending: Commissioners praised staff planning and emphasized the city’s regulatory obligations under state and federal environmental agencies. The ordinances will return for additional readings before the commission takes final action.