RALEIGH -- Water bills are going up. Again.
The Raleigh City Council on Tuesday tentatively approved a 13 percent rate increase for Raleigh and Garner water customers. The increase, effective Dec. 1, takes the place of a tiered system of billing that would also have raised rates but rewarded residential consumers who use less than the average amount of water.
The city delayed implementing the tiered system until next summer because of problems converting the old computer system to the new scheme, said Gail Roper, the city's chief information officer. It was supposed to be running Dec. 1.
Too many mistakes were being made on sample bills to start sending them out, Roper said.
"We have determined that in order to bring a quality system to our public, we need to slow down," she said.
Because the tiered system wasn't ready, the city has to make up for lost revenue and needs the higher water rates approved Tuesday, City Manager Russell Allen said. The City Council had already approved a plan to raise rates in December but needed to reformulate how the city recoups that money in light of the problems with the billing system.
"The system lost a tremendous amount of revenue," Allen said. "I want to apologize for not making this schedule."
The council voted 5-3 to charge $3.27 per 1,000 gallons of water, up from $2.87, said Dale Crisp, the head of Raleigh's public utilities department. A bi-monthly base fee of $8.47 will go up to $9.61.
That means the average household in Raleigh, which uses an estimated 4,500 gallons of water a month, will pay $39.04 for two months, instead of $34.30. Trash and recycling fees are tacked on to those bills. The rate approved Tuesday is the same amount paid by commercial customers, whose rates will also rise Dec. 1 because of a decision made by the council earlier this year.
Tuesday's vote to raise rates comes after a 9 percent hike that went into effect May 1.
The City Council had hoped to have the tiered billing system in place to encourage conservation by charging consumers less for the first 3,000 gallons of water. Additional consumption would be subject to higher rates.
The seven-month delay to implementing that tiered system didn't sit well with council members.
"We're been talking about this at least a year," council member Nancy McFarlane said. "They were supposed to be rewarded with a lower rate. I have a hard time going away from that."
The council will need to vote for the rate increase one more time before it takes effect. On Tuesday, council members Thomas Crowder, Rodger Koopman and Russ Stephenson voted against it.
The new rates will affect only Raleigh and Garner. Raleigh provides water to Wake Forest, Rolesville, Knightdale, Wendell and Zebulon, who are already paying higher rates to cover the costs of merging with the city water system.
