Sewer rates going up ~7% a year, anybody know what the money actually fixes?

Was looking over my water bill this week and the sewer line is bigger than I'd been paying attention to. I usually watch the property tax bill like a hawk, but this one sneaks by because it just rides along on the water bill.

The Democrat-Gazette had a piece on the Water Reclamation Authority's proposed 2027 budget: Little Rock wastewater utility's proposed 2027 budget includes rate increases. As I read it, this is year two of a five-year schedule at roughly 7 percent a year, with about $250 million in pipe and plant maintenance planned over ten years. Seven percent a year for five years compounds to about 40% by the end, which is a lot more than it sounds like in any single year.

I'm not against fixing old pipe. Nobody wants to be the guy complaining about sewers that work. But I'd like to know where it's going. Is it mostly the older parts of town, or the plant itself? Does anyone know if they publish a project list somewhere, or do we just take the number on faith?

Curious if anyone's gone to one of their meetings or has seen the breakdown.

Good question, and the compounding is the part that gets people. Seven percent sounds small until you stack five years of it.

I haven't been to one of their meetings, but the authority's board meets in public and the budget goes through there, so the agenda packet is probably where a real project list would show up. I'd also just email them and ask how the $250 million splits between pipe replacement and the plants. That's a normal question and they should be able to answer it.

Some of the pipe in the older neighborhoods is really old, and heavy rain is when it shows up as backups and overflows into the creeks. I fish around here enough that I'd rather see that money spent than not. I still agree they should spell out where it goes.

If anyone finds the breakdown, post it here so we're not all digging for it separately.

Seconding the email idea, Clay. I think a lot of us assume somebody else already asked. The agenda packet thing makes sense too, since boards usually have to approve specific projects and those get listed somewhere even if the website makes you dig for it.

The overflow part hits home for me. I walk my rescue beagle mix down by Fourche Creek most mornings and after a big storm it does not smell right, and I always wonder if that's runoff or something worse. I'd honestly be fine with some of the increase if it means that stops happening.

Also a thing I only learned from a yard sale a couple years back in Hillcrest. The lady running it was selling off stuff because she'd just paid to dig up and replace the line from her house to the street, and she said that part was on her, not the utility. So I'd love to know how much of the $250 million is the big mains and the plants versus stuff we'd still be paying for separately. I'll send an email this week and post whatever I get back, even if it's just "see the budget."

Clay, agreed on the agenda packet, but fair warning: those things tend to be a 300 page PDF where the actual project list lives on page 211 under something like "CIP Schedule B." Whoever digs it up deserves a medal and a free latte.

What I keep chewing on is that sewer rides on water usage, so small businesses get hit harder than most people realize. The woman who runs my regular coffee shop told me her water and sewer line is one of those bills that creeps up every year and there's nothing she can do about it, short of washing fewer dishes, which the health department would love. Stack 7% a year for five years on a place with thin margins and that's real money. Same for every restaurant down in the River Market.

I'm with you on spending it, though. Nobody wants "Fourche Creek smells funky after every storm" to be the long-term plan. I just want to see the list before I clap. And if heather (the other one, the beagle one) gets an answer back from the authority, please post it. I'll buy the first round of coffee if it's actual numbers and not "see the budget."