Highland sewer customers can expect first rate increase in three years. Here’s how much

Highland residents will pay slightly more for their sewer service after a vote earlier this month by the city council.

The council unanimously approved an incremental increase for basic user rates at its Aug. 5 meeting. The last rate increase had been in effect from August 2021 to 2024, but Public Works Director Joe Gillespie wrote in his recommendation that it was important to maintain an incremental increase each year to keep up with the rising costs of maintenance.

Residential customers will be charged a minimum monthly service fee of $10.30 as of Sept. 1, 2024, increasing to $10.61 in 2025 and $10.93 in 2026. After that minimum fee, residents will be charged 73.1 cents per 100 gallons in 2024, 75.3 cents in 2025 and 77.6 cents in 2026.

For a family of four using approximately 5,000 gallons a month, the increase will total about $1.37 a month, according to Gillespie’s memo.

Residents are still permitted to install a separate water meter and pit for outside water usage only, which allows those gallons used for watering a lawn to be billed separately from the water that enters the sewage system for treatment.

Commercial users are also charged the same base rate, with slightly higher per-gallon rates detailed in the ordinance.