Water, sewer rates going up for many customers

CANFIELD -- Roughly 3,100 city water and sewer customers will see their rates increase in May.
City council Wednesday unanimously approved increasing water rates by 12 percent after May 1 and another 12 percent in 2006.
Sewer rates will increase 3 percent after May 1.
The city increased water rates by 8.5 percent in 2004 after lowering rates 14 percent in 2001 and 9.7 percent in 1997.
"We also changed the minimum for billing from 10,000 gallons to 5,000," said City Manager Charles Tieche. "That primarily affects seniors and extremely low users."
Those decreases and the change in minimum usage were among reasons cited for increases this year and in 2006. Also contributing to the increase was a 10 percent boost in the wholesale rate Youngstown charges Canfield for the water. A 4 percent wholesale increase is set for July.
The current rate structure charges $3.63 per 1,000 gallons for the first 20,000 gallons, dropping to $3.25 per 1,000 gallons for the next 100,000, then to $2.93 per 1,000 gallons for the next 100,000 and to $2.71 per 1,000 for amounts greater than 220,000.
The proposed increase would bump the rates for the first 20,000 gallons used in a quarter to $4.07 per 1,000 gallons May 1 and to $4.56 per 1,000 gallons Jan. 1.
The Mahoning County sanitary engineer's office also increased sewer rates this year and the city is passing that on to customers.
City sewer customers pay $5.25 per 1,000 gallons. That will increase to $5.40 per 1,000 gallons after May 1.