ST. LOUIS — For the first time in more than a decade St. Louis residents could see a rate hike on their water bill.
City leaders say the roughly 44% rate hike is necessary to replace aging infrastructure, but at a time when seemingly everything is more expensive many people are understandably split.
Things are quiet along Winona Avenue in South City, but Paul Curth says it was a much different scene Saturday morning.
“It was a river,” Curth said.
According to Curth, roughly 30 hours passed before the city sent a crew to fix the broken water main beneath his street.
“It didn’t take much foresight to know that I needed to stock up on water because they’re going to come shut us off,” Curth said.
“You’ve got to have water,” Betty Patzius said.
Betty Patzius woke up without water after a similar break along Southwest Avenue Friday morning.
“You’re in your house thinking the water is going to come on, and there’s nothing. They don’t even knock on the door and say hey we’re going to have the water off for a while or nothing.”
So far in 2023, there have been more than 180 water main breaks in the City of St. Louis.
“It’s end of life,” Curth said. “Where the money has been, or where the focus has been for the last 70 years I don’t know.”
Now the St. Louis Board of Aldermen are asking you to pick up the tab with a 44% rate increase that would see your bill jump by $5 per month in July, and an additional $10 in January.
“I think that’s ridiculous,” Patzius said. “They’ve got a lot of money. What are they doing with it? They should be fixing this stuff.”
While some, including alderwomen Sharon Tyus and Lauren Keys, have questioned why the city isn’t using the Rams settlement money.
“There’s a lot of competing needs within the city: Roads and public safety,” Curth said.
That’s why many people in the city are understandably split on the proposal before the Board of Aldermen take a final vote.
“They’ve got money,” Patzius said. “They’re doing what they want with the money. They’re just trying to get more money out of us that pay our water bills.”
“I understand that concern,” Curth said. “I’ll temper that with knowing that it’s expensive to maintain infrastructure. Period.”
It would take effect July 1, but many users wouldn't see the increase until their October water bill.
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