GUSTINE – Local residents will be digging a little deeper to cover city utility bills in the future, after the council enacted a series of rate hikes which become effective July 1.

Rate payers will see improved service for at least a portion of those hikes, however, as the city plans to upgrade its water system with additional storage, a new well and wellhead treatment for nitrate levels on one well.

“This is one of the biggest steps we’ve taken since I have been on the council,” commented Mayor Rich Ford. “Those are going to be major improvements.”

Under the terms of Proposition 218, property owners had the opportunity to object to the planned increases but just one protest was lodged, City Manager Margaret Silveira said.

The council subsequently approved rate increases for water and refuse service, and implemented a storm drain fee for the first time.

Water rate increases will be phased in over a three-year period.

Current water rates for single family homes are $13.18 a month for the first 500 cubic feet and 61 cents for each additional 100 cubic feet up to 1,000 cubic feet used. Those who use larger quantities of water pay higher rates for additional consumption on the sliding scale. The rates will increase to $14.20 a month, plus 66 cents for each 100 cubic feet up to 1,000.

A resident using 1,000 cubic feet of water a month will see the water bill climb from $16.23 to $17.50. As of July 2010, the cost for the same amount of water will climb to $22.15.

The refuse rates for single family homes climb from $13.80 to $15.86 a month this year, and rise to $18.22 next year.

The new storm drain fee is $1.20 a month for single family homes.

City officials opted to phase the increases in rather than imposing wholesale increases at one time, Silveira explained, even though that means the city is not initially recovering the rising costs of providing those services.

“We just didn’t want to hit the residents with everything at once,” she said. “Storm drainage was a fee that the city had been paying, and this is the first time we are passing it on to residents. The city is still covering the cost of street sweeping, but next year that increase will include street sweeping.”