- Fixed Water and Sewer charges have nearly quadrupled since 2020 going from a combined 20 dollars per month to 80 dollars.
- The City of Grand Ledge is tasked with raising funds to afford an estimated 50 million dollar waste water plant and 17 million dollar iron removal facility.
Watch the video above to see how city council is handling the situation.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Neighbors descended on Monday's city council meeting to raise concerns with their city water and sewer bills.
“The rates, fees, and overall costs for municipal water in Grand Ledge are exorbitant and have been raising at an incredibly high rate.” Said a concerned neighbor.
The fixed charge neighbors pay for Water and Sewer service has nearly quadrupled since 2020 going from a combined 20 dollars per month to 80 dollars, and that's before they pay for how much they use. It all has neighbors asking tough questions.
“We have this discussion with my husband every single month that I don't know if we’re going to be able to afford 250$ a month for water for a family of four.” Said a concerned neighbor.
Grand Ledge Mayor Keith Mulder says he’s aware of the concerns.
“Nobody likes rate increases, nobody wants to pay more money” Said Mulder.
“The fixed costs are the fixed costs” Said Mulder.
The mayor says those increased costs are because the City of Grand Ledge has to pay for an improved wastewater facility, estimated to cost around 50 million dollars and a 17 million dollar Iron removal facility for water. He says regulations, aging infrastructure and the need to be able to serve more customers led to the changes.
“Our hands are tied unless somebody can build a sewer plant for less money” Said Mulder.
Council members say they have worked to get costs down. They were originally quoted 86 million dollars for a wastewater plant. They worked to lower the costs and the new estimates are around 50 million.
Link to Water Infrastructure Project Information
“We’ve gone after federal grants, state grants, and have been successful in some of those, but you know what, as a community, you can't always rely on the federal government and state government to help you out of the situation you're in.” Said Mulder.
A situation that not every neighbor is happy to help pay for.
“Honestly if I would have known the water situation, I would have never moved here” Said a concerned neighbor.
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