If passed, bills will reflect a $2 increase in 2026 and in 2027, and a $3.62 increase in 2028.
The Evansville Water and Sewer Utility (EWSU) said it hasn’t passed cost increases onto customers for five years, and this is needed because it has been paying the difference between what Republic Services charges the utility, and what residents pay on their water bill.
At the same time, the utility contract costs have increased annually.
“And what that means is that each year we get a little farther behind in terms of just having to pay for trash service out of our other funds, specifically from our sewer funds,” Utility Executive Director Vic Kelson said. “We have a lot of sewer work that needs to be done. And as time has gone by, we've gotten ourselves to the point where we really need to true this up.”
He’s referring to the coming water treatment plant which is required to be built by federal consent decree.
Still in the design phases, previous project estimates are in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Kelson also estimates the utility would eat nearly an extra $1million in contract charges in 2026 without an increase when money will be needed elsewhere.
“We have hundreds of millions of dollars in sewer projects that we're required to do over the next 10 or 15 years, and we need that money for the sewer utility functions and also to cover unexpected things like the Riverside Drive issue last year,” he said, which so far has cost $7 million in repairs.
He said on the plus side, Republic Services will provide dumpsters for block-by-block cleanups and allow the utility to handle customer service of trash-related questions.
The first reading of the ordinance to increase the trash fees will be at the January 26 City Council meeting.
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