Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Grand Rapids rate study would raise Cascade water rates about 10.8%; sewer rates proposed to fall
Summary
A City of Grand Rapids rate study proposes roughly a 10.8% water rate increase for Cascade Charter Township and a 2.6% decrease in sewer rates; the utility projects the average Cascade household quarterly bill would rise about 3% (roughly $9). Grand Rapids will vote on final rates Dec. 16; the city offers an affordability program that applied credits to Cascade this year.
Tyra Bruggi, utility financial officer for the City of Grand Rapids, told the Cascade Charter Township Board of Trustees on Nov. 19 that a city rate study would raise Cascade’s water rates by about 10.8% while lowering sewer rates about 2.6%.
Bruggi said those changes translate to an average quarterly household bill increase of about 3%, “which is about $9 every 3 months,” for an average Cascade home that receives both water and sewer service. She emphasized that the net effect varies: “If you’re on water but have a septic system, you will just see the water increase,” she said.
Why the increase? Bruggi attributed most of the water increase to capital additions recorded on the utility’s books — “we put into service $14,000,000 worth of water mains for Cascade Township specifically,” she said, citing the Berger Goodwood extension that connected homes previously affected by PFAS‑contaminated wells. She added that national borrowing costs (used to calculate the utility’s contractual return on investment) have risen…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
