Rock Hill budget proposal gives utility customers a smaller increase

After seeing rates rise come springtime for so long, Rock Hill utility customers this year should get a break.

Rock Hill’s proposed city budget for 2016-17 still includes an increase in the rate paid by city residents for water and power, but the average customer’s bill should only include an increase of $2.40 per month.

Last year, utility customers were handed a rate hike of almost three times that amount when the city set its budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year.

If the proposed budget is ultimately approved, starting July 1 the average utility customer will see an additional $1.93 added to the electric bill. Another 51 cents will be added to residential stormwater rates.

At the same time, the average water and sewer bill in the city should go down. The proposal includes a 73-cent increase in sewer charges but a 77-cent decrease in the water bill for the average residential customer inside the city limits, a net fall of 4 cents for water customers.

According to city documents, the electric rate increase will fund capital projects next year, while residential stormwater rate increases will fund annual improvements to neighborhood stormwater systems. Commercial customers will pay for major stormwater projects in the city’s stormwater master plan.

Five stormwater projects are being considered for 2017, including a $1.7 million project on Thornwell Avenue and $1 million for the intersection of Charlotte and North avenues and Marydale Lane; $785,00 for improvements in the Ebinport Road/Northgate Lane neighborhood; $480,000 to serve 36 isolated homes off Miller Pond Road; and $605,000 for the Aldersgate neighborhood downstream of Mount Gallant Road.

The City Council will vote on the budget in June.

Last year’s city budget saw a 5 percent increase in Rock Hill’s electric rate, on top of a 1 percent increase in both the water and wastewater rates. It was the third-highest increase in the previous 13 years, after Rock Hill’s utility customers saw 6 percent increases in both fiscal years 2014 and 2015.

The $226 million budget for 2016-17 includes no proposed tax increases and would fund an additional $300,000 for street-paving projects.

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Rock Hill budget proposal gives utility customers a smaller increase."