Town officials announced Tuesday that commercial and residential rates have dropped anywhere from 27 percent to 47 percent as of July 1. The decrease is the result of Garner paying off the cost of its 2001 merger with Raleigh's water and sewer system.

Under the merger agreement, Garner customers would begin paying Raleigh rates after the cost of combining the two utility systems had been paid.

Rodney Dickerson, Garner's assistant town manager, said a family using 6,000 gallons of water a month will save about $34 a month with the rate change.

Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams said the town paid off the cost of the merger three years ahead of schedule because it has been adding more customers than it projected.

Williams said some criticized the town for being the first Wake County municipality to merge with Raleigh in 2001.

"As things play out, it appears we did the right thing," he said.

The five other Wake towns that also merged with Raleigh continue to pay higher rates. Rolesville signed its merger agreement in 2002; Wake Forest, in 2005; and Knightdale, Wendell and Zebulon, in 2006.

The merger agreements give each town a base capacity of water in Raleigh's system. That amount will grow 4 percent annually during the first 10 years of the agreement and 3 percent for the next 10 years. After 20 years, the towns are not allowed to grow any faster than the Raleigh service area.

Before the mergers, Raleigh was selling water to its neighbors under 10- to 20-year agreements. That approach meant there was no system in place to judge whether a town's request for additional capacity should be granted.