The Frisco city council approved the increases at a Sept. 20, 2022 meeting.
Treasury Manager of the Budgeting and Planning Services Department Brett Peterson read a statement at the meeting explaining the increases.
“Like many who are operating in this macroeconomic environment, the [North Texas Municipal Water District] is facing significant pressures and commodity prices, supply chains, staffing and vendor costs,” Peterson said.
The NTWD provides water and wastewater services to more than 2 million people in 10 North Texas counties, according to their website.
The previous minimum residential water bill was $18.95 a month for 2,000 gallons of water. Starting Jan. 1, the new minimum cost is $20.47 a month for the same amount of water with an added cost for every additional 1,000 gallons.
Multi-family units such as apartments will be charged the same minimum of $20.47 per unit with a standard rate of $4.53 for each additional 1,000 gallons of water.
“The North Texas region has faced its most significant drought since 2015,” Peterson said. “Although conservation efforts by many water district member cities and recent mild weather in August, early September have helped, seven member cities exceeded their annual minimums during this past [water] year, which ended July 31.”
Residential sewer and solid waste collection bills increased by a small percentage, with sewer rates rising from $26.73 to $27.53 per month.
“If you try to reduce your sewer rates, don’t water during the months of December, January, February and March,” council member Bill Woodard said at the Sept. 20 meeting. “[The city will] base your sewer charge on the amount of water you use during those months, dropping one of the four.”
Solid waste collection fees rose from $17.00 to $21.00. A similar increase was applied to additional waste collection carts and the senior citizen rate.
Optional solid waste fees such as commercial reload, replacement, and collection also increased, according to the city’s website.
For businesses, commercial water rates increased based on the size of the meter used. The standard meter of 3/4 inches now has a $22.32 monthly rate for 2,000 gallons of water used.
“The water, sewer increases will reflect the pass through rate increase from the water district and the updated city transmission cost,” Peterson said.
While every meter size larger than 3/4 inches has a larger base rate, each size will have the same rate of $4.68 for every additional 1,000 gallons of water used, according to city documents.
Commercial solid waste pickup fees will be based on the amount of carts or, for other larger containers, the size of the container and number of collections every week.
The Environmental Services Fund also added a budgeted revenue increase to align with average Dallas-Fort Worth area rates and cover projected costs, Peterson said.
“These rate adjustments will help ensure the fund's financial stability and the continued operating expense of the Exide Plant closure,” Peterson said.
The ordinance passed unanimously.
