Your Arlington water bill will be higher in 2022. Here’s why.
Arlington residents can expect to pay around $30 more on water and storm water rates in 2022, as officials look to restore normal rate increases and city operations that were stalled due to COVID-19.
Water and sewer rates for residential and commercial property owners remained stagnant during the pandemic. The storm water rate, which has increased by 50 cents each year, went up by only a quarter in 2021. The city expects to spend $148.4 million from its Water Utilities Fund and $11.2 million from the Storm Water Utility Fund.
The city expects to spend $10.2 million on capital stormwater improvement projects such as drainage improvements along California Lane and Harvest Hills. Construction is also underway to address erosion at Indian Trail. Officials also plan to spend $19.1 million in improvements to water utility operations.
City Manager Trey Yelverton told city councilmembers keeping the water rate stagnant during 2021 was “not a sustainable approach.” The city expects residents who use around 7,000 gallons of water and 4,000 gallons of wastewater per month to pay $1.84 per month.
“We need to start taking a look at moving those rates again to make sure we continue to renew the infrastructure the way people expect us to do,” Yelverton said in his Aug. 3 budget presentation.
The water utilities fund will fund 11 new personnel, including two senior utility technicians, four lead utility technicians and a quality assurance specialist. Part of the city’s storm water utility fees will help fund an additional civil engineer.
Councilmembers unanimously approved the budget and storm water fee adjustment Sept. 7 and are scheduled to vote on it again Tuesday evening.
2022 budget returning services
Officials prioritized returning city services to pre-pandemic normals, as well as catching up with the city’s growth. Hiring more police officers and firefighters and creating new services are among the priorities in the city’s 2022 budget.
The $552 million budget includes a .83% property tax reduction, but most home owners will see a larger bill due to increased property values. The owner of a home valued at $300,000 with a homestead exemptions would pay $1,487.52.
Residents will pay an average of $97.50 more per year in property taxes and for utility services, according to city estimates.
Conversations surrounding the budget took a more upbeat turn, more than a year after officials scaled back certain services and froze raises and hiring for city personnel and braced for around $18 million in lost revenue, the majority of which would have stemmed from sales tax revenue loss. The city’s general fund in Fiscal 2020 finished $10.7 million under budget, and a sales tax loss of $4.2 million.
Property tax revenue is up $7.3 million for 2021, a 6.8% increase, and sales tax revenue is projected to be $71.7 million in 2022.
