Public Service Board approves water bill increase

El Pasoans, get ready. Your water bill is about to go up.

The Public Service Board unanimously voted to increase your water, sewage and stormwater fee.

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Starting March 1st, El Pasoans will see an 8% increase in their water and sewage bill. For the average resident, that’s $3.98 more a month.

The board also approved a 2% increase to your stormwater fee, or an extra 8 cents a month. When combined, both fee increases mean the average customer will pay an extra $4.06 a month.

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El Paso Water emailed ABC-7 the following statement:

“The $490 million water, wastewater and reclaimed water budget enables El Paso Water to replace aging infrastructure, improve reliability and secure future water supplies. The utility has also prioritized investment in a new customer information system and will continue staffing improvements and technology upgrades to improve customer satisfaction.”

Public Service Board officials said the tax rate increase, in part, will go toward fixing aging infrastructure and finding new sources for water.

El Paso Water says El Paso’s population will double by 2040 and new water sources are needed to meet the demand.

Board members had inquired about a seven percent increase to water bills, instead of eight percent, but were told if there was a water main break, like we’ve been seeing a lot of lately, it’s possible the board would have to tap into it’s contingency fund to pay for repairs.

Board members decided they didn’t want to risk. “We know that these emergencies come up. We could find ourselves having to spend significantly more than what the budget calls for,” said Public Service Board Member Henry Gallardo.

El Paso Mayor Dee Margo said he is concerned the budget is “tight.”

“If we have a surprise, we’ll go into contingency and raise the rates next year,” Margo said, “So let’s try to plan for this and understand what our infrastructure needs are.”

The water and sewage budget of $490 million increased by $8 million compared to last year’s budget.