Hamtramck officials outline $200–300M water and sewer shortfall, warn residents bills may rise as grants fade

Hamtramck officials and consultants told residents at a town hall that the city faces decades of work to replace aging water and sewer infrastructure—and that shrinking grant support will shift more costs onto local ratepayers.

Amir Hashim, a city official who opened the session, said Hamtramck’s system largely exceeds its useful life and “we have more than 6,000 lead service lines and we have replaced about 40% of them.” Anthony Hasham, the city's operator in charge, laid out the physical picture: roughly 43 miles each of water and sewer mains, about 6,200 service lines (mostly lead), 570 gate valves and 451 fire hydrants, many of them more than a century old.

“The useful life of some of this infrastructure is 50 to 70 years… we are way past that,” Hasham said in the presentation, showing photos of corroded mains, collapsed sewers and failed gate valves that force neighborhood‑wide shutoffs during repairs.

Why it matters: staff and consultant John Kayser of Municipal Analytics said the city runs its water and sewer as an enterprise fund and must recover operating and capital costs from customers, grants and borrowing. Kayser warned that national pressures—higher materials and labor costs and broad, simultaneous demand for lead‑line replacements—are pushing prices up. “Because every community in the country is under this lead service mandate… all of those supplies and all of the expertise are in high demand right now,” he said.

Scope and costs: presenters offered several estimates: lead service‑line replacement is roughly $10,000–$12,000 per line; about 2,500 lines have been replaced so far. Officials estimated water‑main replacement needs in the roughly $100–$120 million range and sewer relief work (phase two) at $87–$102 million; combining known needs brings the total well into the low hundreds of millions. Kayser said the five‑year model contemplates about $65 million for water and $65 million for sewer (roughly $130 million) over five years, with roughly 18–20% paid directly by customers under the current rate model.

On rates and timing: staff emphasized projects will take decades and some borrowing will be required. If next year’s rate proposal is adopted, officials said a typical residential bill would rise about $12–$20 per month. “We want to be as low as possible,” Kayser said, adding the city has worked to avoid the very large percentage increases other municipalities are facing.

Grants and matching: officials said the city has been aggressive in pursuing grants and has received large sums since 2021—staff stated the city has received about $45.8 million in grants for water and sewer work (about $35 million for water mains and just under $10 million for sewer) and earlier referenced $32 million in grant funding—while also stressing many grants require the city to provide matching funds (commonly 50/50 or 75/25). Presenters warned that available grant money appears to be declining and that more local funding will therefore be needed.

Affordability and assistance: residents pressed officials on affordability and safeguards for households on limited incomes. Dave, a billing staff member, described the Water Residential Assistance Program (WRAP/RAP) administered by state health and human services and said the program's funding has been “sparse” recently. He also explained the city offers payment plans but residents must enroll before a shutoff; the city’s contract with RAP prevents shutoffs for people already enrolled in the program.

Meter and billing disputes: staff explained that replacing older, underreporting meters can produce a one‑time large bill when unrecorded usage is captured after replacement. The council historically authorized a 60% credit in many such cases; staff invited residents with disputed bills to bring them to the billing office for review.

Public-safety notes: presenters said failing sewers and inoperable hydrants carry public‑safety risks. They cited recent emergency repairs (a sinkhole repair at Conant/Jacob costing about $100,000) and examples where several hydrants on one block were replaced after failing inspection.

What comes next: officials said the city will keep applying for grants, pursue lower‑interest state loans when possible and spread large projects and borrowings over long payback terms (20–40 years) to limit near‑term rate shocks. They also committed to clearer public materials on grants received and how matching costs affect resident bills.

Voices from the meeting: John Kayser summarized the financial tradeoffs and modeling; Anthony Hasham showed the system's physical condition; Dave described customer assistance and billing policy; Ebony Taylor, a candidate for State Senate District 3, introduced herself and said she supports pursuing state-level assistance for Hamtramck.

The town hall closed with staff offering one‑on‑one follow-up for meter disputes and a pledge to post clearer grant and project summaries for residents.

Ending: there were no formal votes or policy adoptions at the session; officials described it as an informational town hall and encouraged residents to pursue assistance programs, bring disputed bills in for review, and follow city postings on project plans and grant awards.