RAYMONDVILLE — Residents are facing a 3-percent boost in water rates as officials plan to help offset rising costs.
Meanwhile, officials are proposing to cut about 3.5 cents per $100 valuation off the property tax rate.
As part of the city’s proposed $4.8 million general fund budget, officials are planning to boost the monthly water rate from $22.34 for as much as 2,000 gallons to $23.01.
For customers using more than 2,000 gallons a month, they’re proposing increasing the rate from $4.38 for every additional 1,000 gallons to $4.51.
The proposed rate’s expected to generate about $90,000 for the city’s water and sewer fund, projected to generate $4.2 million next year, City Manager Eleazar Garcia said Monday.
Offsetting rising costs
At City Hall, officials plan small water rate hikes nearly every year to help keep up with rising costs, Garcia said.
“The 3-percent will help defray increases in supplies, materials, fuel and chemicals,” he said.
Amid inflation, officials are projecting the water plant’s chemical costs to jump to $350,000, up from about $300,000 this year, Garcia said.
Meanwhile, he’s expecting fuel costs to climb 20- to 30-percent, he said.
“We have to do it,” he said, referring to the semi-annual rate hikes. “If you don’t do it, you can’t keep up with the costs of fuel, repairs and pipe.”
Lessening impact on residents
While cities such as San Benito are facing double-digit rate increases, Garcia said his program based on semi-annual rate hikes lessens the impact on residents’ pocketbooks.
“You have small, nominal increases every year instead of one big increase,” he said.
In San Benito, officials are setting commercial water rates to climb by 8.3 percent to as much as 9.8 percent each year over five years, based on water usage, starting next month.
Meanwhile, they’re planning to pull more than $3 million from the city’s $9 million share of the American Rescue Plan Act to help bail out the utility system, which ran a $2.8 million deficit last year.
For years, previous city administrations held off on raising rates, leading the utility system to fall in debt.
To offset annual shortfalls, officials had been dipping into the city’s general fund budget.
Meanwhile, households are getting a two-year break before their water rates start climbing by 10 percent over a five-year period starting October 2024.
Dropping tax rate
In Raymondville, officials are also proposing a property tax rate of 0.737 per $100 valuation, the so-called no-new revenue tax rate, Garcia said.
The proposed tax rate would cut ab0ut 3.5 cents off the current rate of 0.771, he said.
“The reason is we picked up values,” he said, referring to the city’s increase in newly appraised property values.
This year, the Willacy County Appraised District’s reappraisals boosted the city’s property values to $228 million, up from $214 million last year, Garcia said.
