MIDWAY – Midway water and sewer customers are facing an increase in their rates, starting November 1.

For the average user, the rate increase will be about 14%, said Bill Powell of Georgia Rural Water Association member services and also president and CEO of West Shore Consulting.

But as the city faces debt service for its water infrastructure, Powell warned they could be looking at another increase next year.

“Right now, the biggest issue is your water,” he told council members.

Powell, who retired as the director of Brunswick’s director of water and wastewater, pointed out the city has an existing bond payment of $62,000 a year, followed by a new well at $86,500 a year, a new meter project at $54,700 and $183,000 a year for a new storage tank and piping.

“Your water payments are $385,000 a year. And that’s just your loan payment,” he said. “Then you’ve got maintenance and operations on top of that.”

The new rates, Powell said, will show the city can repay its Georgia Environmental Finance Authority loans.

For the average customer, the use is about 3,700 gallons per month, Powell pointed out. That bill, around $73-$74 a month, would go up to about $84 a month.

“You can’t live without water,” Powell said. “If you don’t have water and sewer, there is no need for a police department, there is no need for a fire department and no need for a school system, because your city won’t be there. Water and sewer is the key to every city there is.”

Powell said the city is trying its best to keep operational costs down, but even as its residents face the pressure of rising prices, so too do municipalities for what they pay.

“We have to do our best to help our customers,” he said. “And that’s true. But you have the same increase that they do. You are having to fight that increase too. The only way y’all have got to pay for that is these folks right here.”

The city’s annual operational costs are about $487,000 for wastewater and $383,000 for water. The city has paid off its wastewater debt service.

Midway City Council members voted 3-1 to put the new rates in effect and they voted unanimously to keep sanitation rates in place. Council members agreed to keep the sanitation bill at $12 per month, though the city’s cost has gone up to $17 per month.

“The city has been paying that extra five dollars per customer,” said Mayor Levern Clancy.