Smyrna residents and business/property owners will pay more for their sewer rates, beginning with their March bills.
“Without notification,” Cobb County Water passed along an 11.6 percent increase to the wholesale sewer rate charged to the cities effective Jan. 1, according to Smyrna City Administrator Tammi Saddler Jones.
That means the city faces an increase of $50,000 each month, she added, though Cobb Water has not increased the sewer rate in about seven years.
Jones said the city needs to pass on the increase “to cover our costs.”
The Smyrna City Council voted 4-2 on Feb. 18 to pass along this increase to the city’s residents and business/property owners.
That means an increase in the sewer rate by 85 cents from $7.25 to $8.10 for each thousand gallons effective Feb. 1 to be billed on the March 2019 bills.
Opposed were Councilwomen Maryline Blackburn and Susan Wilkinson, with Councilman Ron Fennel absent.
Though not pleased with the increase, Councilman Charles Welch made the motion to pass along the rate hike.
Welch said he would prefer if Cobb would pass along a one percent increase each year instead of 11 percent all at once.
Already, Smyrna was charged by Cobb 49 cents more per thousand gallons from $4.22 to $4.71 on the February 2019 bill - for January usage - without notification, Jones said.
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