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Milledgeville city manager introduces three fee ordinances, including phased water-rate increases
Summary
City Manager Griffin introduced three ordinances for first reading Aug. 13 to update alcohol license fees, water and sewer rates, and permit/inspection charges; the water/sewer increases are planned in three phases (Jan. 1, 2025; July 1, 2025; July 1, 2026) and will support bond funding for water-treatment and delivery infrastructure.
City Manager Griffin told the City Council Aug. 13 that three ordinances amending local fees were being introduced as first readings and will return for a second reading and vote on Aug. 27. The measures cover alcohol license fees, water and sewer charges and connection fees, and fees for permits and inspections.
Griffin said ordinance 24-08-14 would set new water and sewer rates in three phases so the city could position itself to issue bonds for work on the water treatment plant and distribution system. "There will actually be 2 increases, 2 phases in 2025, 1 in January 1, and then the third phase will go into effect 07/01/2026," Griffin said. He recommended pushing the first phase to Jan. 1, 2025 so customers would have more time to plan their budgets.
The city manager said the meter fee increases reflect a planned expansion of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) after a successful pilot and that larger, AMI-capable meters cost more. "We will be putting AMI meters in," Griffin said, noting the Legacy Apartments project would deploy AMI meters for 90 additional units and provide a further test of the technology.
Griffin also described a new fee the city has not charged previously: a fire-flow test for developments to verify adequate water flow for fire suppression. "Those are pretty common," he said, adding the city does many of these tests and has not charged for them in the past. Other updates in ordinance 24-08-15 revise the title and scope for permit and inspection fees to explicitly include land-use application types such as rezoning and variance applications and attach a fees schedule to the ordinance, mirroring the utility-fee ordinance.
The ordinances were introduced as first readings only; no votes on adoption were taken Aug. 13. Griffin said the ordinances will return to council on Aug. 27 for a second reading and possible vote. The council did adopt unrelated resolutions during the meeting, but action on these fee ordinances will await the next meeting.
