City staff will explore options for reducing residents’ Austin Water bills after City Council passed a resolution to that effect on Feb. 25. Since 2008, Austin Water—a city-owned utility—has increased its rates annually, resulting in around a 62 percent increase in customer bills, according to city documents. The water utility anticipates annual rate increases for the next five years if expenditure cuts or changes are not made, according to city documents. About 8 percent of Austin Water revenue is transferred to the city of Austin’s general fund and economic development department—the city’s cut for assuming the risk of owning the utility. According to the council resolution, the city may be able to reduce the Austin Water revenue transfer to other agencies instead of increasing customer bills in an effort to reduce the utility's debt—which currently totals around $2.5 billion, according to city documents. In the coming months, city staff will evaluate the feasibility of decreasing the rate transfers by increments of 1 percent over a period of time or other changes to the transfer policy. According to the resolution, staff must present their analysis to City Council by June.