Brandon board moves to raise water and sewer rates, increases automatic annual adjustment

The City of Brandon’s Board of Aldermen approved changes to the municipal utility rate ordinance and an immediate rate adjustment during its March 16 meeting, after staff described rising operations and maintenance costs and the need for predictable revenue to fund wells, repairs and compliance.

City staff explained that the proposed order to amend appendix C (section 82‑55 of the city code) and a separate ordinance amendment would allow the city to set a one‑time adjustment now and increase the city’s automatic annual rate adjustment from 2% to 3% beginning in October. Finance and utilities staff told the board that, under current billing assumptions, a 5% across‑the‑board increase would yield roughly $401,285 in additional annual water‑and‑sewer revenue and that a typical in‑city residential customer using 5,000 gallons would see an increase of about $2.60 on the monthly bill for water, sewer and the base rate (the West Rankin pass‑through and garbage fees were excluded from the proposal).

Board members asked for clarifications about the city’s operating margin, where the apparent $811,947 surplus shown in one report originated, and why the water and sewer enterprise fund still shows an operating deficit when other fees create a positive margin overall. Staff explained that fees (tap, connection, late fees, and amounts billed or collected related to the West Rankin authority) have been contributing to a surplus in the enterprise fund, but water and sewer operations taken alone run a deficit of about $390,000 last year; staff said those fee streams are not a reliable basis for long‑term operating revenues and the utility must be able to sustain itself.

The board discussed the timing and legal requirements for rate adoption (a 30‑day waiting period after adoption tied to billing cycles) and the requirement that the mayor and board conduct an annual review of rates. After debate, the board voted to adopt the order and to approve amending the ordinance language to raise the automatic annual adjustment threshold to 3% in October, consistent with staff’s recommendation. Staff said that if the board approves the rate ordinance tonight, the new rates would be reflected on the June billing cycle following required notice.

What the action does and does not do: the board’s vote changes the city’s rate‑setting ordinance and authorizes the immediate adjustment presented in staff materials; it does not commit the city to specific capital projects beyond the normal budgeting and capital‑planning process, nor did the board adopt new project‑level funding authorizations at this meeting.

Follow up: staff will publish required notice of the rate changes, implement billing system updates in line with the established effective date, and return with routine annual rate analyses as required by state law and local code.