May 1, 2024

Perrysburg City Council will be presented with legislation in May and June for a proposed increase in water and sewer rates which if passed, could go into effect as early as July 1, 2024.  

During the Public Utilities Committee meeting on March 27, the committee heard a presentation from Michael Maker, Deputy Director of Water Practice with NewGen Strategies, a rate consultant. View that presentation here.  

To prevent even higher rate increases later, the rate consultant is proposing a 10% increase for the water rate on July 1, 2024, January 1, 2025, and January 1, 2026. The consultant is also proposing a 6% increase for the sewer rates during those same years. If approved by Perrysburg City Council, the average customer will see their combined water/sewer bill increase by about 8% or $6.25 per month, starting in July.  

“This gradual increase each year will give people more time to plan,” said Matt Choma, Director of Public Utilities for the City. “We need to continue to provide the level of service that Perrysburg ratepayers expect and deserve.” 

To understand the need for the increase, it’s important to look back at the history of how we got here. After the Toledo water crisis in 2014, the EPA mandated that Toledo upgrade its water treatment plant to prevent another water emergency. To do this, rates would have to be raised and equalized for all cities that receive water from Toledo by 2028. This is why the Toledo Region Water Commission was formed. As a member of the Commission, the City of Perrysburg pays Toledo a wholesale rate that covers the cost of transporting water to one of two “master meters.” One “master meter” connects directly to the Toledo system and the other connects to the Northwest Water and Sewer District (NWWSD) system. The City of Perrysburg is then responsible for setting its own costs of service to distribute water to residents.  

The purchase of water from the City of Toledo and the NWWSD account for approximately 70 percent of the Department of Public Utility’s operating budget. 

“The remainder pays for the operation and maintenance of the distribution system so we must carefully plan the projects needed to take care of the system,” said Choma.   

To get to a uniform rate by 2028, Toledo has been increasing Perrysburg’s water rate by an average of 10% each year since 2019. However, the City did not charge customers the full 10% and, most recently, only increased the rate by 3% -- the rate did not increase in 2021 due to COVID. 

“At the time, we were coming out of the pandemic, and we were being hit by the same inflationary pressures as everyone else,” said Choma.  

In addition to all the required improvements that resulted from the 2014 Water Crisis, the City must meet the requirements of the Ohio EPA to properly maintain and operate its distribution system. To do this, additional staff were added.  

The City also has several capital improvement programs that keep water flowing to residents while improving fire protection. The watermain replacement program had to be delayed for several years due to increased construction costs and supply shortages. This program began in 2012 as an effort to replace old and undersized pipes – some of the oldest date to 1908. Many of these undersized mains are over 100 years old and are no longer able to provide the flows and pressures needed to fight fires and meet current water demands. 

“They were constructed and sized for the population at that time. But as the city has grown, they are no longer able to support at the same level.  As these cast-iron mains age, they corrode and develop encrustations that limit and can severely restrict flow,” said Choma. 

That program paused in 2020, primarily due to COVID, but restarted this year. The four-inch cast iron watermains are being replaced with eight-inch PVC mains that will help stabilize pressure, which Choma says is especially needed to fight a fire. 

“Restarting the watermain replacement program is another reason for the rate increase.  On the plus side, the new watermains will greatly reduce the chance of watermain breaks and loss of service to the residents.”  

Recognizing that the increase in rates will create a greater burden on some residents, the City has been working with the Salvation Army to establish a water and sewer bill assistance program. The program also allows residents to make charitable, tax-deductible donations to help other rate payers. 

The Public Utilities Committee was presented with information about the proposed rate increases at its meeting on April 24. The legislation now moves to City Council which will have three readings before taking an emergency vote on June 4.