Bartlesville utility customers are seeing some changes on their July bill after rate increase for Fiscal Year 2024-25 went into effect on July 1.
“These increases are the fourth in a five-year plan to incrementally raise utility rates since approved in Fiscal Year 2020-21. The increases are used to operate the City’s utility systems and to continue to make infrastructure improvements required by State and Federal regulatory bodies,” said City of Bartlesville Chief Finance Director, Treasurer and City Clerk Jason Muninger.
The increases are the result of a comprehensive water, wastewater and sanitation rate study conducted in FY 2020-21, which included recommendations for new rates sufficient to support the operations of the system and capital fees to support mandatory improvements to the system, including a $65 million expansion of the Waste Water Treatment Plant mandated to comply with Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality regulations.
The new rates are effective for customers within and outside the city limits and are being phased in over a five-year period.
“The City Council adopted the first year of the five-year rate structure effective on July 1, 2021, and later adopted a slightly modified version of the rate structure for years two through five of the plan. We are now at Year Four,” Muninger said.
Cost breakdown
Water Rates
- Water base rates will not increase
- Water incremental rates will not increase
- Water capital investment fees will increase by about 15.6 percent
Wastewater Rates
- Wastewater base rates will increase by about 10.4 percent
- Wastewater incremental rates will increase by about 5.1 percent
- Wastewater capital investment fees will increase by about 7.2 percent
Sanitation Rates
- Sanitation cart rates will increase by about 5.2 percent
- Sanitation commercial rates will increase by about 10 percent
Duplication on bill explained
Because the City’s utility billing cycle includes readings taken in June, the charges will be listed prior to July 1 as well as after July 1. This will have the appearance on the bill that the customer has been double-charged, because they will see two lines of “water meter base charge,” and two lines of “sewer meter base charge,” in addition to the sewer charge and waste water investment fee.
“It’s not actually a double charge, but rather breaking down the charges prior to the rate increases and after the rate increases went into effect,” Muninger said.
Why are the increases necessary?
In some cases, such as the increases in sanitation services, the increases are needed to fund the program’s operation and maintenance at the level of services currently provided. In others, such as water and waste water, the revenue that these increases generate are needed to fund capital infrastructure necessary to meet future demand and Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality regulations.
For instance, based on the current rates alone, the following improvements are needed:
- Renovation of the Chickasaw Waste Water Treatment Plant — $65 million
- Improvements to the Caney River Wastewater Pump Corridor — $20 million
- Automated Water Meter Infrastructure Replacement — $7.5 million
- Improvements to the wastewater collection system — $3.7 million
- Improvements to the water distribution system — $3.3 million
- Replacement of equipment (pumps, motors, controllers) at the Water Treatment Plant — $1 million
- Water reuse system — $8.2 million (paid partially through grants)
“These capital improvements will be funded using low-interest loans from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, and those loans will be repaid using revenue generated by utility rates over the next several years,” Muninger said.
For more information, contact the Utility Billing Office at 918.338.4224.