Iowa City May Raise Sewer User Fees for Infrastructure Upgrades

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A city in central Iowa has approved a plan to spend $73 million over 15 years to improve the city’s sewer system, a move that could lead to rate increases.

The Waterloo City Council unanimously approved a sanitary sewer improvement plan Tuesday in order to comply with a federal court order.

Chief Financial Officer Michelle Weidner tells The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier that the city likely will borrow from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to finance the project and pay off the loans through sewer user fees.

Weidner says a draft budget shows the city will need to increase annual sewer fees by 5 percent over the next several years to make debt payments. The move is intended to meet standards in a 2015 federal consent decree.