The Great Lakes Water Authority’s (GLWA) continued rate hikes are unsustainable. That’s what members of southeast Michigan’s regional water provider heard from citizens during a public hearing on Wednesday.
Nonetheless, GLWA’s board voted to increase rates to its wholesale customer communities by the largest margin in years. Water rates will go up nearly 6%, while sewer rates will increase by 4.5% starting in July.
The rate increases were less than initially proposed, but still the highest seen in over a decade. When GLWA took over operations of the regional water and sewer system from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department as a result of the city’s municipal bankruptcy in 2014, part of the agreement was that rate hikes would be capped at 4% per year. However, that provision expires this year.
Nicolette Bateson, GLWA’s chief financial officer, told board members that a variety of factors are pushing up fixed costs. They include rising prices for water treatment chemicals, unexpectedly large pension obligations, and aging infrastructure that’s increasingly breaking down, as evidenced by some major–and costly–water main breaks recently.
“Unfortunately, the water system is solely dependent on the end consumer to cover the cost,” Bateson said. “Not our choice. Not our wish.”
But members of the public blasted the rate hikes. They said ever-rising costs for basic services, coupled with larger inflationary pressures, are already straining many households to the breaking point.
Norell Hemphill was among the dozens of people who argued this will push many low-income families into desperate situations where they’re forced to choose between water and other basic necessities.
“I pray today for all of your humanity. That your humanity is restored,” Hemphill told board members. “Because what you’re doing with this proposed rate hike is shutting off people’s water. You might as well be doing it yourself.”
A number of speakers said the rate hikes will push the city of Detroit in particular into crisis territory, reminiscent of what happened a decade ago when the city shut off water service to tens of thousands of homes with delinquent water bills. The city and GLWA have since implemented new assistance programs for households that struggle to pay water bills. But critics argue those programs are insufficient, especially for the lowest-income families.
Many of GLWA’s suburban customer communities say the strain of continual rate hikes is starting to take a toll on them, too.
Gus Calandrino, the mayor of Utica in Macomb County, told GLWA officials that as a “quasi-governmental body,” they’re not subject to accountability for continually raising rates.
“We understand we must maintain and upgrade our infrastructure,” Calandrino said. “We understand rates will and even must increase over time. However, small cities like mine cannot shoulder these large increases with no end in sight.
“Rate increases of this magnitude are a burden to my residents, and are simply not sustainable to ensure the future viability of our water system. There must be structural changes to the way you are doing business.”
