Holmes County sewer rates will see slight rise in 2025
Holmes County residents and commercial business owners will see a slight uptick in their sewer rates in 2025, marking the first time in more than a decade the rates will have been raised.
Holmes County engineer Chris Young was present at the Dec. 30 Holmes County Commissioners meeting to discuss a resolution adjusting the monthly wastewater rates and modify policies and procedures for the Holmes County Sewer District.
“The last time we increased our rates was in December of 2014,” Young said.
He said there are two trains of thoughts when it comes to these types of rates, the first being to raise rates continually a little bit at a time and the second being to raise them all at once. Holmes County has opted for the latter, having not raised the rates in more than a decade.
“(Holmes County) has grown so much, and we’ve kind of waited and waited and put things off because we didn’t know where our growth was going,” Young said. “Finally, our expenses caught up with our growth.”
He said in 2014 the county was paying $175,000 for power alone. Today, the county is paying $300,000. Add in the various investments the county has made to the wastewater and sewer works and Young said it was time to make the move to increase rates.
“Inflation has really eaten into our buying power,” Young said. “This will correct it.”
Young said the current residential rate is set at $55.14, with the proposal set to raise that rate to $60. The current commercial rate is $60.02 and will rise to $66 per sewer unit.
Young said the county also will move to a new billing system that will make bills easier for customers to read.
“Just because we inherited something and did it that way 30 years ago doesn’t mean we should continue doing things that way,” Young said. “When you look at bills now, you don’t really know where it’s going.”
He said the new revamped billing system will allow customers to better understand where all of the billing finances go, whether it is capital improvements for the county, operations, maintenance or other areas.
“Overall, we have to raise rates,” Young said. “I hate to raise rates, but we have to or else we will be in the hole in a few years.”
He said the department continues to streamline some things, and policies and procedures will be updated, the biggest being making a move to allow customers to pay their bills electronically through credit cards, something that hasn’t been available before.
“I can’t say enough about what you’ve done for our county in the sewer district,” Commissioner Joe Miller said. “That is the backbone to one of the successes of Holmes County. You’ve done a lot, and we have appreciated it.”
Commissioner Dave Hall said the rise in rates could have been a lot worse had Young and the department not been extremely frugal with their expenditures and operation of the sewer system. He also said the county has worked hard to bring in many grant dollars that have helped keep rates lower.
Miller said the county has never asked the taxpayers for any funding for the sewer and wastewater plant, noting all local funding has been paid by user and hookup fees.
With the many recent additions and updates to the wastewater and sewer systems throughout the county, Miller said the county has payments to make, but those hookup and user fees continue to pay the bills.
The commissioners quickly moved to adopt the new rate plan.