There will be a lot of infrastructure work in the city of St. Joseph over the next six years and it will cost residents. City commissioners on Monday heard from John Kaczor of Municipal Analytics, who presented the city’s Asset Management Plan and talked about needs for streets, sewer, and water. In all, the city is looking at about $69 million in investment over the next six years. Kaczor said efficiency can be achieved by tackling more than one underground asset at a time.
“A lot more effort is now being put into coordinating projects to make sure we’re looking at all the infrastructure under the street,” Kaczor said.
Among other things, the city will need $14 million in water treatment plant work, $7 million in lead water service line replacements, and a $21 million combined sewer overflow tank replacement. Kaczor said this will have to mean rate hikes.
“What we have been paying for water and sewer for decades has been not enough to actually maintain the systems.”
The plan could be for water rates to go up 6.5% next year, followed by a 5% increase per year for the next five years. Sewer rates would rise 15% per year for the next five years. The water rate increase could amount to 24 cents per day for the average residential user. This is not yet final. Kaczor said many cities are finding themselves with similar needs.
