Connorsville advances first reading of ordinance to raise water and sewer rates after lengthy public hearing

The Connorsville Common Council on March 2 advanced Ordinance No. 7073 on first reading after a prolonged public hearing in which dozens of residents, particularly those living outside city limits, urged the council to slow or reduce a proposed three-phase increase to water and sewer charges.

The ordinance advanced on a 4–3 roll-call vote. Councilwomen Phillips, McQueen and Barrett and Councilman Rob voted “yes”; Councilmen Williams Jr., Gray and Collins voted “no.” A second reading was scheduled for the council’s next regular meeting.

The measure would phase incremental rate increases over three steps described by staff as 15%, 15% and 10% (the city’s notices indicate those phase percentages). Staff estimated the three phases would yield roughly $1.5 million in new revenue, of which about $1.15–$1.2 million is expected to cover annual debt service for the planned capital project. Jeremy, the utilities official presenting the proposal, said the package also increases planned contributions to a water replacement fund by about $215,000 to reduce future bonding and rate spikes.

Why it matters: residents said the proposal would be especially hard on retirees and households on fixed incomes and questioned the apparent math in the mailed rate notices. Several outside-city residents said an aggregate calculation implied much larger cumulative percentage increases than advertised and asked the council to remove the separate fire-protection surcharge for county customers.

Residents at the podium detailed personal hardship. Don Alexi said an 83-year-old relative on a fixed monthly income “is not going to be able to live there” under the proposed changes. Gary Marshall and other speakers asked staff to clarify line-item math in the mailed notice — for example, why phase three listed an $8.80 per-350-cubic-feet line that some residents said equates to a larger-than-expected percentage change.

Staff responded with line-item explanations and a broader infrastructure case. Jeremy said Connorsville’s distribution system includes pipes and hydrants more than a century old and that the system currently loses about 52% of pumped water; he described limited crew capacity (roughly six employees handling mains, services and sewer) and argued deferred maintenance has led to repeated emergency repairs. He said a targeted cost-of-service study for fire protection, expected to take about six months and cost roughly $25,000, will inform future adjustments specifically to the fire-protection charge.

Adam, a city staff member who helped calculate the rate study, told the council the rate study assumes coverage for debt-service and includes both a $1.25 million internal contribution and a $400,000 State Revolving Fund (SRF) component as offsets; Jeremy also noted the city received a $750,000 OKRA grant toward the project. Staff said the proposed three-phase revenue would be sufficient to cover the annual debt payments and to build replacement reserves intended to limit future sudden increases.

Council members weighed fiscal responsibility and affordability. Supporters of the ordinance said delaying action would leave the city reactive to failures — forcing costly emergency repairs, overtime and service interruptions — while opponents emphasized the short time frame and cumulative cost to households and urged a longer, less steep phase-in or the removal of outside-city surcharges.

Formal action and next steps: the council passed the ordinance on first reading and scheduled a second reading at the next meeting. The utilities team said they will complete the fire-protection cost-of-service study within about six months and provide more detailed line-item explanations to residents.

Sources: public testimony and staff presentations during the March 2, 2026 Connorsville Common Council meeting. The hearing included roll-call votes and staff figures for projected revenue, debt service and grant offsets.