As several metro Atlanta local governments implement or weigh water and sewer rate increases for next year, a majority of residents of the 11-county region oppose such increases to fund infrastructure upgrades, according to a survey the Atlanta Regional Commission released this month.
The commission asked the water bill question for the first time in its annual “Metro Atlanta Speaks” survey. The A.L. Burruss Institute of Public Service and Research at Kennesaw State University conducted the sampling in August, about two months after simultaneous water main breaks plunged Atlanta into a dayslong crisis and refocused attention on aging infrastructure in the region.
Out of 4,081 respondents, 44.6% either agreed or strongly agreed to pay higher water bills for infrastructure upgrades, while 51% disagreed or strongly disagreed. The remainder said they did not know. The margin of error was 1.5%.
Of metro Atlanta’s core counties, support for water rate hikes was weakest in Gwinnett, where the county commission four years ago approved a ten-year series of water and sewer rate increases. Only 42.9% of the 400 respondents from Gwinnett supported rate increases, with a margin of error of 4.9%.
More than 1 million people live in Gwinnett. About 30% use septic systems, including Tam Nguyen, who lives in the Mountain Park area. She said she pays less than $30 per month, compared to the average water and sewer bill of almost $88 for a single-family home in Gwinnett.
Nguyen said she would not want to be connected to the county’s sewer system, adding the rates were already too high.
“The water system is expensive,” she said.
Water and sewer bills will increase Jan. 1 by an average of $3.30 per month for a single-family home in Gwinnett. The increases through 2031 will fund expanded capacity in the fast-growing county.
The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners is considering steep water and sewer rate hikes over the next three years. The county only has one water treatment plant, which needs almost $300 million in upgrades. DeKalb is also under a federal consent decree that mandates $1 billion worth of improvements to the sewer system by 2027.
Of 511 DeKalb residents surveyed, only 43.3% supported rate increases, with a margin of error of 4.3%.
In public meetings, some residents have acknowledged the rate increases are necessary, while others have said now is not the time.
The county has raised property taxes and nationwide inflation is placing residents under financial stress, Monica Smith of Avondale Estates said to the county’s public works and infrastructure committee.
“We are broke, the American people,” Smith said. “We don’t have enough money.”
Cobb County, the city of Atlanta and Fulton County, in that order, led the region with the highest percentages of residents who said they’d approve of higher rates for upgrades. Still, no jurisdiction had majority approval that surpassed the margin of error.
Cobb will likely increase water and sewer rates April 1, spokesman Ross Cavitt said. The exact amount is still being decided, he said.
The county raised rates last year, citing increased costs and planned infrastructure upgrades.
After the water main breaks in the spring dried taps and placed a large swath of Atlanta under a boil water advisory for days, city officials said the necessary fixes could cost billions of dollars. But no rate increases are anticipated, said a spokesperson for the city’s watershed department.
Instead, the city council tapped into a reserve fund for $177 million. Mayor Andre Dickens also said the city would seek federal help.
Atlanta is also under a federal consent decree because of frequent sewage spills polluting the Chattahoochee and South rivers. To pay for the sewer improvements, water and sewer rates more than doubled from 2002-2012 but have not increased since then because of a dedicated sales tax.
The Atlanta Regional Commission survey, released four days before the presidential election, highlighted the economy as metro residents’ top concern. It also foreshadowed the failed transit referendums in Gwinnett and Cobb counties, where fewer than 45% of respondents said they would pay more to expand public transportation.
Average monthly residential water and sewer bills, 2024
Atlanta $194.42 (7,480 gallons; includes multi-family buildings)
Cobb County $65.15 (5,000 gallons)
DeKalb County $70 (4,000 gallons)
Gwinnett County $87.75 (5,000 gallons)
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