News Photo by Steve Schulwitz The Alpena Utility Billing Office is seen on Monday. The Alpena Municipal Council voted 5-0 on Monday to increase water and sewer rates to help bolster its savings for future projects and cover rising operations costs.

ALPENA — Residents in Alpena are going to pay more for water and sewer services in the coming weeks, as the Alpena Municipal Council voted 5-0 to raise rates during Monday’s meeting.

The council voted on a 7% increase for water, which bumps it from $7.39 per 1,000 gallons to $7.91 per 1,000 gallons of water.

Council elected to only increase sewer rates by 3%, which pushes sewer rates from $7.30 per 1,000 gallons to $7.52 per 1,000 gallons.

In total, water and sewer customers in Alpena will pay $0.74 more per 1,000 gallons of water and sewer combined.

City Engineer Steve Shultz said rising costs have increased expenses, and the amount of money in the water and sewer funds has slowly been depleted because of large projects in the city.

He said higher rates will help to cover the cost of service, maintenance, and bolster the water and sewer funds.

“With the 2nd Ave. and Fair Ave. projects now complete, and the clear wells underway, it is important to begin to rebuild the fund balances for future projects, specifically the water fund, due to the large clear well project,” Shultz said.

The clear wells at the Alpena water production plant hold the finished water and provide contact time for chlorination before the water gets disbursed into the system. Without the clear well tanks, the water could not reach the users. The existing clear wells at the water production plant are 1922 and 1935 models and had extensive repairs in 2012 and 2013, with these repairs expected to have a 15- to 20-year life.

Before the vote, the council considered fee hikes of 3%, 5%, and 7%, but decided not to go with the figure.

The water-use volume expected for the 2025-26 budget year, being about 292,600 1,000-gal units of water, the new rates will generate approximately $2,314,466 in the water fund.

About 274,100 1,000-gal units of sewer are anticipated, and the higher rates may generate approximately $2,061,232 in the sewer fund.

Shultz said approximately 60% of the water and sewer rate revenue is used for operations and maintenance of the system, but the remainder will be used for future capital improvement projects and placed into savings.

There are no changes to other fees the city charges its customers, as the ready-to-serve charge will remain the same, as will the Infrastructure Replacement Charge. The Debt Service Charge and the Billing Service Charge will also remain as they are.

The expected revenue from the rate increases will be included in the upcoming budget, which will run from July 1 through June 30.