FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ohio — The City of Columbus wants to pass along a 6% sewer and water service increase to its customers next year.
The agenda item reads in part:
"When a sewer increase of 6% and a 1% increase in stormwater rates are considered, the overall impact on a typical residential customer's bill in the City of Columbus is 6.06% and for a typical outside city residential customer, the overall bill impact is 6.49%. Low Income Discount participant's overall bill impact is 6.0%. Outside city customers are not charged stormwater fees."
Franklin County is considering passing along half that and eating the rest.
Even with the increase, some Franklin County residents aren't happy about it.
"I can't afford it because I'm retired and it's getting rather expensive every couple of months and you have to either skimp on your medications or doctor visits or something to get the water bill paid," said Virginia Huddy, a retired Franklin County homeowner.
The average quarterly water bill for a Franklin County resident is $398.71, according to the county.
Officials for Franklin County say Columbus charges the county $3.75 per centum cubic feet (ccf). The sewer is charged $5.85 per ccf.
It bills residents $6.23 per ccf for water and $8.78 per ccf for sewer.
"Our water bill runs currently $349 every three months and it's a lot," said Kimberly McCall, of Columbus.
On Friday, Prairie Township residents voiced their concerns over rising water rates, claiming they pay significantly more than Columbus and want to know why. 10TV sat down with the County Sanitation Engineer to get answers.
"Most of them are using way more water than they need for the family size," said Stephen Renner, Franklin County sanitation engineer.
When asked if that meant there's a leak, Renner said, "Yes, it does. And this is one of the hardest issues we have with our customers."
The City of Columbus responded by telling 10TV, "Prairie Township residents are billed by Franklin County as one of our 'master meter' communities – the county’s unincorporated areas receive water from us through large master meters, and everything after that master meter – including individual customer metering and billing – are the responsibility of the county. Columbus does set slightly higher rates for water and sewer for our contract communities, which includes Prairie Township as part of Franklin County. Some contract communities also add their own fees and charges to their bills, but Columbus only receives the amount charged for water usage as calculated by the master meters."
You can view water rates here.
Those living outside Columbus indeed pay about 1.3 times more for water, according to city data. Franklin County officials warn that without raising rates, they will face significant financial difficulties.
"Next year our sewer fund will hit zero and may go into the red. In 2026, our water fund is at risk and may hit zero and go negative," said Renner.
Franklin County has not raised sewer or water rates in the past three years. Plans to have the city cover the cost of maintaining those lines are still ongoing.
"It's an incredibly complicated situation," said Deputy Commissioner Kris Long.
Homeowners facing higher water rates wonder how much more they can squeeze from their budgets.
"You got to have water. What are you supposed to do? I don't know what the solution is," said McCall.
Franklin County will vote on a water and sewer increase at its last meeting of the year on Dec. 10.
The meeting is open to the public.