Quick take
- What: Mayor Tommy Chandler's proposed 2027 budget includes a 16% increase in the sewer service base rate and a 29% increase in the usage charge, which is billed for every 1,000 gallons of water, KTBS reported.
- What it costs: a household that uses about 5,000 gallons a month would pay about $100 more a year, based on a sewer rate study by the accounting firm EisnerAmper, according to KTBS.
- Why: the city hasn't raised sewer rates since 2013. Chief Administrative Officer Shane Cheatham said costs are outpacing revenue. The proposed sewer budget shows about $21.6 million coming in and $26.3 million going out.
- What's next: the increase is expected to come to the City Council as an ordinance next month. Council members can accept, reject or change it.
Bossier City sewer customers could pay more next year. Mayor Tommy Chandler's proposed 2027 budget projects a 16% increase in the sewer service base rate and a 29% increase in the usage charge, KTBS reported. It would be the city's first sewer rate increase since 2013.
Your sewer bill has two parts: a flat service charge, and a usage charge for every 1,000 gallons of water the city delivers to your home. Under the proposal, a household that uses about 5,000 gallons a month would pay about $100 more a year, based on figures from a sewer rate study by EisnerAmper, KTBS reported.
Why the city wants it
Shane Cheatham, the city's chief administrative officer, said costs are outpacing revenue. "The cost of everything has increased," he said, according to KTBS.
At a budget hearing last month, Cheatham said the proposed sewer budget shows about $21.6 million in revenue against about $26.3 million in spending. Also last month, the council learned the sewer department faced a $4.7 million shortfall, according to KTBS, which got the rate study through a public records request. If the new rates are approved, the added revenue would turn next year's projected shortfall into a $1.1 million surplus, KTBS reported.
The study laid out several options spread over one to five years. The one-year option called for a 62% increase. It isn't clear yet whether the mayor's proposal is the first step in a series of increases, which the study suggested, KTBS reported.
What happens next
The council voted Tuesday, Oct. 20, to introduce the city's 2027 operating and capital budgets, an early step before final adoption. Council members didn't ask about the sewer rates, and no one spoke during public comment, KTBS reported. The rate change itself is expected to come to the council as an ordinance next month. The council can accept it, reject it or change it, and any change to the mayor's budget would need an amendment before the budget is adopted.
Agendas and meeting times are posted on the city's meeting portal. Our earlier story has more on the 2027 budgets in Shreveport and Bossier City.