DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The DeKalb County Commission is expected to hold a full discussion, and potential vote, on a series of water rate increases for county residents.
In the aftermath of a large water main break in Brookhaven in January, new DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said increases to water bills were needed to ensure the county could rebuild or replace the aging water system.
On Monday night, county officials held their first of three public meetings on the proposed increases. Cochran-Johnson confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that the plan was to effectively double people’s water bills over the next decade to pay for the work.
“Ten years at 10%, so in a 10-year period, whatever your current water bill may be, you can expect to see it increase in 10 years by 100 percent,” Dekalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson told Channel 2′s Eryn Rogers.
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At a recent county commission meeting, Chief Operating Officer Zachary Williams said raising rates each year, for the next 10 years, would help the county not only make needed repairs now, but also fund future water system needs.
“Because of the age of our infrastructure we’re experiencing in the neighborhood of 980 water main breaks annually, on average that’s about three per day,” Cochran-Johnson said Monday night.
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While the meeting last week ended up with deferred a vote on the rate increases, pitched as a 10% per year rise through 2034, a full vote is scheduled for Tuesday evening, following a more broad discussion of the plans last week.
If the plan succeeds, Cochran-Johnson said their plan would give the county almost $4 million to start.
“It’s just time we make an investment in our infrastructure because it’s critical,” Cochran-Johnson said.
However, the county has been under a federal Modified Consent Decree since 2011 because county failed to meet reporting deadlines under the decree and are now at risk of missing upcoming compliance deadlines, so they need more money to complete the required projects.
If the board of commissioners vote to approve the increase plan, DeKalb County residents could see their bills go up as soon as June or July, Cochran-Johnson said.
The next meeting will be held at Reid H. Cofer Library on Lavista Road in Tucker Tuesday at 6 p.m. and another will be held at the Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center on Rainbow Drive in Decatur on Wednesday, also at 6 p.m.
For residents who can’t make it to the meetings, the county is streaming the meetings live on their YouTube channel here.
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