Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Keokuk council advances sewer-rate changes to shift debt off property taxes
Summary
Council advanced an ordinance that raises sewer rates (7% step then 3% annual increases for residential customers, higher increases for large industrial users) to move debt-service costs from property tax levy to sewer revenues.
The Keokuk City Council debated and moved forward an ordinance that adjusts sewer rates to strengthen sewer revenue coverage of debt service and reduce reliance on property tax for those payments.
Staff explained the plan: an initial 7% increase followed by annual 3% increases in later years for residential customers, and larger annual adjustments for large industrial users. The change includes both base service charges and a volume (per-thousand-gallon) charge adjusted to the water department’s billing units. Staff said the goal is to reduce the property tax debt service levy by roughly $4.50 per $1,000 valuation by shifting debt-service payments to sewer revenue.
Council members asked technical questions about the existing volume charge, the per‑unit billing conversion (water billed in 750-gallon increments), and whether the ordinance’s volume charge reflected an additional separate charge or was part of the same percentage increase. Staff said the volume and base components would increase in tandem according to the schedule in the ordinance.
Council held procedural votes on waiving second and third readings; an attempt to waive failed. The ordinance proceeded through the agenda for consideration of final adoption and related roll-call votes later in the meeting.
