The Huntsville City Council voted Thursday to raise sewer rates in the city for the first time in 20 years to help fund $150 million in repairs and upgrades.

The increase will fund upgrades to a system that would replace aging infrastructure that dates back to the 1950s in some parts of Alabama’s largest city, including downtown. The increase will also help the city remain in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency and Alabama Department of Environmental Management regulations.

“We have aged-out infrastructure in parts of Huntsville,” District 1 City Councilwoman Michelle Watkins said before the vote. “We can address it now and pay minimum cost. Or we can address it later and pay maximum cost. I would rather do it now before our system crashes.”

Here is how the rate increase will affect Huntsville residents:

• Monthly sewer bills to increase from $24.15 to $29.15 for an average residential customer starting Sept. 1. That remains far below the average Alabama sewer bill of $52.14 per month, the city states.
• Rates would increase by $1 per month each year beginning in 2026 until 2034. At that point in 2034, the average residential sewer bill would be $39.15, still well below the current sewer bill average in the state, the city states, and below area cities such as Athens, Decatur, Madison, Hartselle, Florence and Cullman.

District 4 City Councilman Bill Kling asked Urban and Economic Development Director Shane Davis why residents had to “take a pretty big bite” in the first year with the $5 increase.

Davis said there were significant improvements that needed to be made within the first 24 months, and the increase would allow funding to be built up for the projects.

The rate increase will help fund a $150 million infrastructure investment within the city’s sewer collection system and treatment facilities over a 10-year capital plan.

Council President John Meredith voted against the increase. He said he did not have a problem with the initial increase, but was concerned rates would continue to rise over the next 10 years.

Meredith asked for an alternative increase to be considered. Davis offered a modest lower increase that left the increases planned through 2029 unchanged, but had smaller increases through 2034 which would have raised rates to an average of $36.65 per month.

That proposal would have reduced funding for the capital plan by about $10 million, Davis said. The city would then have to decide which projects to take out of the capital plan, which Davis said likely would have been upgrades to sewer lines in some city neighborhoods. Other projects would be spread out over a seven-year period rather than a five-year period.

Members of the council have been asked by residence if the increase would be used to subsidize developers, But Davis said that was not the case, that developers paid for sewer infrastructure for their developments.

Water Pollution Control currently operates and maintains six wastewater treatment facilities. They have a permitted treatment capacity of 110 million gallons per day and have been in service for an average of 48 years. Four need capital improvements to ensure reliable operation and permitting requirements, the city said.