Crystal City Mayor Mike Osher refused to sign off on an ordinance the Crystal City Council recently approved that would have increased water and sewer rates, in essence vetoing the legislation.
The City Council voted 6-1 in March to raise the water and sewer rates, with Ward 2 council member Tony Becker casting the lone dissenting vote.
Then, in an April 23 letter to the City Council, Osher announced he was not signing the ordinance.
“I recognize the importance of increasing the income in the water fund. However with our citizens paying the highest rate for water in the surrounding areas, I cannot support this measure,” he said. “Nevertheless, I appreciate the diligent work and future implementations that we are taking to improve our water fund. With the information that I have been provided, I confidently anticipate a water fund that is self-sufficient for the budget year 2023-2024 and cannot see the justification of an additional increase.”
While the mayor does not have a vote in City Council meetings, his refusal to sign the ordinance meant the City Council needed to vote on the proposal again and get a super majority vote to override Osher’s veto.
The council voted on the proposal again on April 24, and the 5-3 vote did not meet the two-thirds requirement to override the veto, which means the water and sewer rate increases will not go into effect.
Becker and fellow council members Jack Ginnever and Mary Schaumburg voted against the proposed rate increases, while Kenney Bradley, Rick Fischer, Jeff Kempfer, Taylor Massa and David Picarella voted in favor of them.
Becker said he voted against the proposed rate increases because he believes the city has enough revenue coming in from other sources.
“We expect there to be some developments with (the James Hardie industrial project) and possibly some other developments that will affect the overall financial picture for the enterprise fund, which is where the water and sewer are run out of. The timing of those events is not clear, but it seems like rather than raise rates right now, by the end of the fiscal year there will be some cash coming into those funds that will make them balance out.”
If the increases had been approved, it would have resulted in a water hike from $18.05 per 1,000 gallons to $18.50 per 1,000 gallons, a 2.5 percent increase. Sewer rates would have increased from $4.98 per 1,000 gallons to $5.10 per 1,000 gallons, a 2.4 percent increase, according to council documents
Crystal City currently has among the highest, if not the highest, water and sewer rates in Jefferson County, according to a comparison of rates found on the districts’ websites.
The proposed Crystal City increases come a year after the city raised them by 2 percent in February 2022.
The city’s high water and sewer rates are in part due to its water source. Crystal City residents voted against joining the Jefferson County Water Authority in April 2000, unlike Herculaneum and Festus, which get their water from the Cathy Jokerst Water Treatment Plant that went online in 2003. Those who advocated for Crystal City joining the Water Authority said it would have cut the costs for residents and other water customers in the city.
Instead, Crystal City approved the construction of a new 750,000-gallon-per-day drinking water treatment plant, which went online in July 2016. The cost of that project left the city with $9.6 million in new debt, so water and sewer rates were set to pay off that debt and to fund daily operations.
Lisa Easter, the Crystal City water clerk and assistant city clerk, said the city has just more than 2,000 water connections, which means that debt is split among a small number of residents and commercial customers.
Osher said he doesn’t want to exacerbate that burden.
“I am not in favor of raising the water rates, period. I think that if we need to find other ways to save money, go that route. If we have to raise water rates, I understand that. I understand bills have to be paid. But I don’t want the first reaction to be, ‘Let’s raise rates and see if it works.’ I would rather try a different approach instead of raising rates,” Osher said. “I think you need to do your due diligence and see if you can trim other places before going back to our citizens for a water rate increase.”