Council members debate raising utility rates to fund city services

On Jan. 21 the Piedmont City Council debated increasing utility rates to raise revenue for city services and employee wages, with council members divided over timing and scope.

Council Member Richard Williams said the city has two main revenue sources—sales tax/business licenses and utility bills—and argued the municipality cannot rely on sales tax growth. He urged moving forward with utility-rate increases recommended by the Cost of Service Study to pay for services such as limb pickup, junk pickup and leaf pickup, acknowledging residents "will be mad" but calling the increase necessary.

Council Member Caleb Pope supported the need to implement new rates but asked what was delaying the change, questioned whether the fuel surcharge would need monthly adjustments and asked Mayor Baker and Clerk Hinton to meet with 'Corey' to establish a timeframe for when the new rates would take effect. Council Member Greg South cautioned the council to control spending and avoid growing the portion of the city's budget used to operate services.

Mayor Baker voiced support for the approach, saying an increase would help fund wage increases and city-service improvements and that the city's total rates would remain cheaper than neighboring providers, as he stated during his remarks.

No ordinance or rate schedule was adopted at the meeting; council members focused discussion on timing and implementation steps and requested further staff follow-up.