Jefferson residents may look to pay a bit more in water rates in the coming months.

The City Council approved at their October 24th meeting the first reading to amend an ordinance to increase water rates by five percent. City Administrator Scott Peterson says the reason for the small increase that the city has historically been at with three percent has to do with needed capital improvements at the water plant.

“The City, within the past couple of years, has had a study done on the water plant, determining needs that really looking out many, many years into the future about the needs. Whether that is the rehab of the plant and potentially a new plant, which I think might be the last option. But still looking at these different option about what we can do to assure that we have this adequate supply of safe drinking water certainly well, well, well into the future.” 

Peterson says this kind of an increase allows them to not only keep up with current prices of chemicals that are being used to treat the water, but also to save for capital projects. He adds that this still needs to be approved two more times by the Council before it can take effect, which Peterson believes will be either at the end of December or January.