Irving residents will soon see an increase in their water utility bills.
The Irving City Council unanimously passed an amendment to raise its combined water and sewer rate by 7.3% at its meeting Thursday. That amounts to an added $2 to $6 extra per month for the average household, depending on usage.
The increase will only impact wastewater rates, but Irving officials plan to increase both rates over the next four years.
The city says it needs to cover the growing cost of water treatment from the City of Dallas and the Trinity River Authority.
While Irving owns the water rights to Lake Chapman, it buys extra water from the city of Dallas.
Irving paid $11.5 million to Dallas Water Utilities in FY 2023, according to city data presented at a budget retreat in August. Irving city officials expect to spend roughly $12.5 million on services in 2024, about a 9% increase.
The city also spent $32.8 million on wastewater treatment from Trinity River Authority, which treats wastewater for most cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Trinity River Authority wastewater treatment will cost an extra $4.3 million in 2024 for the city of Irving.
The city’s water utilities department expects the new water and sewer rates will bring in $131 million for Irving.
Even after the rate increase, Irving will still have one of the cheapest residential water and sewer rates in Dallas County and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to city officials.
Juan Salinas II is a KERA news intern. Got a tip? Email Juan at jsalinas@kera.org. You can follow Juan on Twitter @4nsmiley.