Water, Wastewater Rates Rise In Arlington And Fort Worth
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Starting Wednesday, January 1, water and wastewater utility customers in Arlington and Fort Worth will notice an increase in their monthly bill.
In Arlington, the he average residential customer's monthly utility bill will increase by $1.52 per month, or about 5 cents a day.
Arlington Water Utilities says residential rates for water usage are some of the lowest in North Texas.
The city says during the winter, residents can lock in savings for the coming year by using water efficiently. That's because water usage during the winter months (November-February) is averaged to establish a maximum sewer charge that the customer will have in any month for the next fiscal year. This program, sometimes referred to as "average winter consumption," has been in place for more than a decade.
Nearly three quarters of water meters in Arlington have been transitioned to remote read meter technology over the past five years.
Customers with remotely read meters can now monitor their daily water use and set high bill or high usage alerts by signing up for the Know Your H2O program.
In 2020, Arlington Water Utilities will begin $79.5 million in improvements to the Pierce-Burch Water Treatment Plant. Financing the project with low interest loans from the Texas Water Development Board will save the City about $24 million over the life of the loan.
The changes to wastewater rates in Fort Worth affect both the fixed monthly charge, which is based on meter size and the volume rates.
The water and wastewater utility's balanced FY2020 water and wastewater budget is $16,230,506, or 3.5% more than the FY2019 budget.
The categories with the largest increases are cash financing of capital projects, debt service, personnel costs, paving costs and contractual costs.
