Nixa council adopts wastewater rate increases through 2030 to shore up aging treatment plant

NIXA, Mo. — The Nixa City Council voted Feb. 11 to adopt an ordinance that raises the city’s wastewater rates through 2030 to pay for aging equipment, maintain reserves and cover growing operations costs. City Administrator Jimmy Lyle presented the second reading and recommended schedule.

Council approval follows a wastewater master plan and a five-year rate study. "The treatment plant that we currently have is now over 20 years old," Lyle said, and the council-backed schedule includes larger increases in 2025 and 2026 to address near-term capital needs. Lyle also corrected an error in the meeting memo, telling council, "The actual numbers ... it's actually a dollar increase to the base rate, not a dollar fifty," and that "in 2025 ... is actually 95¢ per thousand gallons."

City staff said consultants Algier Martin and Associates completed the wastewater master plan and Shafer and Hines performed the rate study. Staff said the study evaluated four components when setting the proposed increases: operations and maintenance (using a 6% factor based on four years of budget data), projected capital expenses from the master plan, a reserve policy tied to projected O&M and capital needs, and a 2.5% growth assumption in customer billing.

Under the adopted schedule, the 2025 changes — which take effect April 1, 2025 — include a $1 increase to the monthly base rate and a usage charge of $0.95 per 1,000 gallons. In 2026 the council approved another $1 base increase and a $1.00 per 1,000-gallon usage charge. From 2027 through 2030 the council approved annual adjustments of $0.50 to the base rate and $0.50 per 1,000 gallons each year. City staff said those later increases are smaller because the 2025–26 increases front-load much of the expected capital work.

The council said it intends to maintain the city’s wastewater reserve balance at roughly $23,000,000 through 2030, using the rate adjustments to preserve that policy target. Staff noted the larger near-term increases are intended to avoid a single large hike later by spreading capital and maintenance costs over several years.

Council members asked no substantive questions during the public hearing. The ordinance passed on second reading by roll call vote; all voting members recorded "yes." The changes to how later-year adjustments are scheduled mean future adjustments for 2026–2030 will be processed on Jan. 1 of each year to align with other utility rate changes.

The ordinance text amends Chapter 22, Article 2, Division 6, Section 22-243 of the Nixa City Code and implements the rate schedule described at the Feb. 11 meeting. Staff said the schedule is tied to the city’s five-year planning and capital-improvement projections and will be revisited in future rate reviews as conditions change.