Lakewood Water, Sewer Rates Going Up in 2012

Water and sewer rates are going up for Lakewood residents again in 2012.

Residents can expect a 2-percent rate increase in their water bills and a 10-percent hike in their sewer bills as they begin to arrive in Lakewood mailboxes in February.

This is the second year of water and sewer rate increases.

Joe Beno, the city’s director of , said the increases will help offset costs from meeting  into Lake Erie.

“Every city around here, everybody’s got sewer rates going up at least 10 percent,” he said.

The city of Vermillion had an 11 percent rate hike last year; Willoughby a 26 percent increase; and the city of Euclid is raising its rates by nearly 50 percent this year.

“Everyone along a lake or a river around here has their rates going up,” Beno said.

Council and the administration began discussing this issue more than three years ago. A comprehensive study was completed last year and one of the finds was that the "typical customer" should expect an additional $46 per year on their bill for water and $30 annually for the sewer rate increase.

That's $6.33 per month total, per (average) household.

With Lakewood reporting in 2010 that 91.4 million gallons of were dumped into Lake Erie, the EPA is forcing the city to make some changes.

Those fixes to the city’s infrastructure could be expensive — as much as $500 million, although no firm dollar figure has yet been estimated. The city is working on an agreement with the US EPA to address the problem.

In Dec. 2010, for 6-percent rate increases for water bills and an 11-percent hike in sewer bills. 

And in November, voters , a charter change that allows sewer infrastructure improvements to be paid for with a levy.

However, there are no immediate plans for a levy, city officials have said. 

“We are in close communication with the EPA,” said law director Kevin Butler in November. “We’re trying to do what we can here. But we are not talking about a tax increase. We’re not even close. It’s just too tough out there.”