UTILITY RATE INCREASE NOTICE

NEW RATE STRUCTURE FAQS

HOW IS MY WATER AND SEWER RATE CALCULATED?

 To continue to provide Mount Holly with high quality, reliable water and sewer service, we have updated the fee structure and rates for water and sewer use. 

• A Mount Holly Utilities Department employee is responsible for the accurate reporting of meter readings each month, and the total gallons of water used per month is matched to the appropriate tier of the water and sewer rates. 
• You will only be charged for the water/sewer base charge if you use less than 2,000 gallons per month. The base charge has two components:
• a fixed charge to recover the fixed costs associated with customer service, billing, and a portion of debt service
• a fixed fee to fund much-needed infrastructure investments, such as water line replacements

HOW MUCH IS THE INCREASE?

In Phase 3, the price per tier for water and sewer will increase:

• Customers who use less than 2,000 gallons per month will start paying an additional $3.75 per month effective August 2021 (for July usage). 
• Customers who use 5,000 gallons per month will start paying an additional $7.98 per month effective August 2021 (for July usage). 

WHY ARE RATES INCREASING?

The cost to maintain and repair the infrastructure needed to provide water and sewer service has increased in the 10 years since the old rate structure was put in place. The old rate structure provided highly variable revenue for the City, making it difficult to plan for capital projects. 

The new rate structure aligns Mount Holly’s rates with what it costs to serve our customers.

HOW DOES THE COMMUNITY BENEFIT FROM THE NEW RATE STRUCTURE?

• The new rate structure creates revenue stability which helps ensure we meet requirements of the rating agencies and the Local Government Commission, which can also help us borrow debt at better interest rates. 
• This additional revenue will continuously fund the infrastructure investments we need to make in water and sewer lines, pumps and tanks in an effort to ensure you continue to receive reliable and safe water service for years to come. 
• The new structure more equitably distributes the costs of service over all customers.

WHO WILL BE IMPACTED BY THE NEW RATE STRUCTURE?

All Mount Holly customers will be impacted by the changes to the water and sewer rates. 

CAN I STILL PAY MY BILL THE SAME WAY?

Yes, we will continue to offer many easy ways to pay your bill. You can use your smart phone and pay online, you can mail a check, utilize our drop box (located adjacent to the Mount Holly Police Department), pay in person, or set up an automatic payment using the City’s automatic bank draft program.

HOW DO MOUNT HOLLY’S RATES COMPARE TO OTHERS?

The new rate structure still ensures Mount Holly’s water and sewer rates are some of the lowest in the region:

• Mount Holly’s average bill is currently lower than the state average
• Even with these changes, it still costs pennies per gallon to have water delivered to your faucet, as compared to dollars for a gallon of bottled water. 

The addition of the new base charge is a common, best practice among public water and wastewater utilities.