Hutto officials consider amended city fee schedule including reduced water, wastewater fees

Hutto residents may soon pay less in water and wastewater fees following a slew of amendments to the city's fee schedule.

Hutto City Council considered the amendments at its regular meeting Dec. 2 and voted to approve them on the first of two readings.

The proposed amendments include reductions to water fees across the board for both residential and nonresidential users.

According to materials from NewGen Strategies & Solutions—a management consulting firm that recently conducted a water and wastewater rate design study for the city—the average Hutto household using 6,000 gallons of water and 5,000 gallons of wastewater pays $130.04 per month at the current rate. The proposed rate would reduce the average household's monthly bill to $116.19.

"I'm just excited that people's water bills are going to be going down," Council Member Krystal Kinsey said.

Other proposed changes to the fee schedule include a reduction in library late fees and the elimination of police department fees for fingerprinting services and crash reports.

Council will vote a second time on the amendments at its next meeting Dec. 16. If the amendments are approved, they will go into effect in January.