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Ennis adopts amended FY26 fee schedule, clarifies water-sewer charges and adds inspection fees for places of worship
Summary
After extended discussion of rate structure and base‑rate wording, the Ennis City Commission on Sept. 16 adopted an updated FY26 fee schedule that clarifies water and sewer billing lines, adjusts the residential minimum bill, and adds fire-inspection fees (including for places of worship).
The Ennis City Commission on Sept. 16 adopted an amended FY26 fee schedule that clarified how the first 1,000 gallons are treated in base rates, adjusted residential charges and added new fire-inspection and operational permit fees — including inspection fees for places of worship.
City staff and consultants said the revisions were largely technical edits to the schedule and to previous NewGen outputs, and stressed the need to preserve consistency for utility billing. Director Taylor told the commission the staff recommendation included "an increase on the residential minimum bill of, a dollar 50 from $23.81 to $25.31." He and other staff also noted missing lines on a handout that required correction before final adoption.
Commissioners pressed staff for consumption data to compare commercial and residential water use. A Friese & Nichols representative said the city's residential customers typically account for the bulk of use: "residential is the bulk of your water demand. It is 60 to 70%." Staff said they will bring detailed flow and consumption numbers back to the commission and that some monitoring is already scheduled.
Mayor Cameron Rayburn expressed a preference for simplifying the fee schedule: "I would think it would make sense to plug it in to the base rate and then increase your base rate by the $4.36," she said, urging a uniform approach that reduces confusion for billing and customers.
On the fire-fee changes, Fire Chief Evans summarized the new operational and construction permits tied to the International Fire Code and said annual inspections will be scheduled for higher-risk occupancies; the fee schedule includes a base annual inspection fee for larger occupancies and nuisance-alarm fees for repeat responses. The commission discussed whether to exempt places of worship from the new inspection fee and ultimately voted to include them under the amended schedule.
The commission approved the fee schedule as presented on the 09/16/2025 handout, added inspection fees for places of worship, and struck an extraneous whereas clause from the ordinance. Staff said a clean, corrected fee schedule will be provided to the commission and the public for clarity and implementation.
