Clayton increasing Water Rates

In July, water customers in the City of Clayton will see a slight increase in their bills.  The Clayton City Council passed an annual treated water rate increase at their meeting on Tuesday, explains Clayton Mayor Kurt Cannon.  “There was a study done in 2018 that revealed that we were running way behind in our water rates.  That it didn’t meet up or even come close to breaking even and we have to break even to maintain our Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) qualifications for loans and things.  So, that had not been being done for several years, so we were falling even further behind.  So, we had to implement a rate increase to get us up to just even where we are within our limits and within the law.  Of course, everybody wants us to break even or make money so that we can continue to repair and replace waterlines.  So, we did a 20% increase, that’s a one-time increase, to get it to where it is supposed to be.  For most customers that is somewhere in the $5 to $10 range.”  Mayor Cannon added that the council also passed a water security deposit increase.  “We also did an increase on our initial water deposit because it didn’t match either.  It didn’t work out to where it equaled about a two-month time period for the customer.  So, we did that as well to keep us from losing money on people who just walk away.”  Notices will be sent out to customers on their water bills before the rate increase take effect in July.