The Neosho City Council came a step closer Tuesday to doubling sewer rates for some residents.
KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.
Have you ever looked at your city water or sewer bill and wondered how it’s calculated?
Most of us aren’t going to contact our city's water or sewer department to better understand these monthly bills, we just pay them.
Tuesday night at theNeosho City Council, city officials pulled back the curtain on just how those sewer bills are calculated and it turns out, they don’t know either.
So Neosho officials reached out to officials in Joplin to inquire about how that community establishes a base sewer rate.
Neosho Director of Finance Leslie Forest describes how sewer billing will change this October with the city council's approval.
“They use a quarter monthly average, a quarter, a winter quarter average. And so you take the periods December, January, and February. You average all the water consumption in the city by class and that is what you set those rates for those sewer-only customers who don’t have water service.”
Residents outside of Neosho who still use the city’s sewers pay $19.52 a month for residential sewer service based on 2,000 gallons of sewage.
Also, at least one commercial user has kept the same sewer rate since 2014.
Another residential user has kept the same sewer rate since 2006. If the city council approves the rate increase, monthly rates will increase from $19.52 to $41.72.
Water and sewer rate changes could take effect as early as Sunday, October 1.
