Prepare for a Shock if You Use Willard Water and Sewer and Live Outside City Limits

In-city and rural-water-only customers will also be hit, but not nearly as hard

TL:DR

Skip ahead to the section “Examples of typical bills…” to see how much more you would be paying if the proposed increases take effect.

Holy myocardial infarction, Batman!

The City of Willard recently released a much-needed rate study of its water and sewer systems. The study, completed by Carl E. Brown of GettingGreatRates.com, recommends a new rate schedule for water and sewer with per-unit rates that disproportionately affect rural customers vis-á-vis in-city customers. Rural customers are those located outside the city limits, e.g. in The Meadows, Clear Creek Estates, the county, etc.

The rates being proposed are even higher than what I anticipated when I wrote about the issue back in December. Additionally, rather than implementing the increases via a “stepped plan” like Strafford, Willard is proposing to implement the increases all at once.

For reference, a “unit” is 1000 gallons. Under the existing rate schedule the per-unit rates for water and sewer are marginally higher for rural customers vis-á-vis in-city customers. But under the proposed schedule, if adopted “as is” by the Willard Board of Aldermen, that gap will dramatically widen — more than doubling the per-unit sewer rates for rural customers, while their per-unit water rates will also rise by nearly 90%. In-city customers will also see significantly higher per-unit rates for sewer and water, but they will not see nearly as much of an increase as rural customers.

Why the wider gap?

The study claims that it’s “generally more costly to serve [customers] outside of the City,” and therefore Willard’s current marginally-higher rates for rural users “should be restructured to make them fairer.” In other words, the gap needs to widen to account for the higher cost of service.

Per the study, once the new rate hikes are implemented, additional increases of 4% will be needed annually to offset inflation beginning in 2025. As a reminder, all the above recommended increases are in addition to the 10% hike to water and sewer rates that occurred in April.

If the numbers in the rate study are accurate, Willard Utilities serves:

• 2,522 in-city water customers

• 2,140 in-city sewer customers

• 1,189 rural water customers

• 280 rural sewer customers

I’m assuming a large share of rural water and sewer customers live in or around The Meadows/Villa Park Heights area.

Bear in mind that as Willard’s approximately 1200 rural water and/or sewer customers are located outside city limits, they do not elect the Board members who manage the water and sewer systems, and therefore have had no say in past decisions or in the rates being proposed. But rural users will be individually burdened with a disproportionate share of the costs compared to their in-city counterparts. Is that fair? The rate study claims that it is.

So what would the proposed per-unit increases for rural and in-city customers look like if approved?

151% per-unit increase for rural residential sewer

The rate that rural residential sewer customers pay for every 1000 gallons would explode from $7.00 to $17.58. The minimum charge would also increase from $31.37 to $38.50.

82% per-unit increase for in-city residential sewer

The rate that in-city residential sewer customers pay for every 1000 gallons would dramatically increase from $6.44 to $11.72. The minimum charge would slightly decrease from $28.83 to $25.67.

88% per-unit increase for rural residential water

The rate that rural residential water customers pay per 1000 gallons would increase from $3.12 to $5.87. The minimum charge would increase from $16.63 to $18.86 and would no longer include the first 1000 gallons of use as it currently does.

37% per-unit increase for in-city residential water

The rate that in-city residential water customers pay per 1000 gallons would increase from $2.86 to $3.91. The minimum charge, although it would decrease from $15.28 to $12.57, would no longer include the first 1000 gallons of use as it currently does.

…to be followed by more increases

The rate study also recommends additional increases of 4% be implemented annually beginning in 2025. Again, all the above increases are in addition to the 10% hike to water and sewer rates that occurred back in April.

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Below, I’ve included several examples of how the proposed rate increases would affect typical monthly bills, along with posting screenshots of two charts included in Carl E. Brown’s report —charts that show billed amounts for water and sewer before and after the proposed rate increases.

In his report, Mr. Brown recommended the City share these two charts with their customers. Thus far, the charts have not been shared separately on either the City’s website or its official Facebook page. The charts remain buried in his 83 page report linked here on the City’s website. Additionally, the linked report is an older version that contains rate increases that are lower than those currently being proposed. The more recent charts in the images seen further below were obtained from a Board meeting packet shared with Willard aldermen and staff.

Added 9/26: the City’s website now includes the updated report here.

Examples of typical bills before and after the proposed increases

Your Willard Utilities bill is made up of two main parts — a water charge and a sewer charge. Though not shown on your bill, both these charges are comprised of a minimum charge and a per unit charge. Again, the per unit charge is for each 1000 gallons of use.

The figures below do not include tax. All numbers have been rounded to the nearest dollar. All figures shown are based on Mr. Brown’s charts which vary slightly from the rates being proposed by the City.

5000 gallons of usage per month is considered the average. Your usage may be higher or lower and can easily be found on your most recent bill.

Rural - 5000 gallons of water & sewer

Your bill would immediately increase from $89 to $175. An increase of $86 per month.

Rural - 5000 gallons of water only

Your bill would immediately increase from $29 to $48. An increase of $19 per month.

Rural - 8000 gallons of water & sewer

Your bill would immediately increase from $118 to $244. An increase of $126 per month.

Rural - 8000 gallons of water only

Your bill would immediately increase from $38 to $66 An increase of $28 per month.

In-city — 5000 gallons of water & sewer

Your bill would immediately increase from $82 to $116. An increase of $34 per month.

In-city — 8000 gallons of water & sewer

Your bill would immediately increase from $108 to $163. An increase of $55 per month.

In-city — 50,000 gallons of water & sewer

My assumption is the Washboard Cafe uses an average of around 50,000 gallons of water/sewage per month. Their bill would immediately increase from $474 to $813. An increase of $339 per month.

For other usage amounts

For other usage amounts, please see Mr. Brown’s charts pictured below. Click each image for an expanded version. To figure out your approximate new bill, find your monthly gallons of use and add together the “Billed at Model Rates” amount for both water and sewer.

Who’s spreading misinformation?

In December 2023, I wrote here about how a then-proposed 10% increase to water and sewer rates (eventually implemented in April 2024) was “only a starting point on the road to impending future hikes.” I also explained why additional larger hikes were necessary. It’s an article worth checking out if you’d like to better understand the reasons behind the explosion in rates.

Not long after that article was published, a member of the Willard MO - City News & Issues Facebook group asked then-mayor Sam Baird whether there would be more rate increases beyond the 10% being proposed at that time. The mayor replied:

Baird shared the above response despite having attended prior meetings during which the Board heard discussion of the need for substantial rate increases. Necessary increases that rose well beyond 10%.

Why did he leave a false impression by making no mention of those discussions in his reply?

A good question, particularly given the size of the increases being proposed less than eight months later.