Canton's sanitation, sewer and water rates will increase March 31. Here's what to know.
CANTON – The average monthly bill for Canton utility customers will increase by nearly $3 a month, starting March 31.
Canton Service Director John Highman Jr., who is responsible for setting the sanitation, sewer and water fees each year, said the rate increases help the city maintain its infrastructure and cover the rising cost of equipment and supplies.
The average utility bill currently is $60.70 a month. The new average monthly bill will be $63.28.
Here’s what to know about the increase:
Didn’t my utility bill increase last year?
It likely did. The city has increased its utility rates each year since 2019, the year following Highman’s appointment to the service director position.
Highman said he prefers regular, incremental rate increases instead of going a few years with no rate increases and then needing a double-digit hike. The incremental increases are based on the consumer price index, which measures the average change over time in retail prices.
“If you look historically where we’ve gone years and years without one, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot,” Highman said. “We’re essentially putting a massive rate increase on the backs of ratepayers. We absolutely want to avoid that.”
He points to the city’s history with sanitation rates where twice in the past 20 years, the city imposed significant double-digit rate hikes over multiple years after a few years of seeking no rate increases.
Why does the Canton need more money?
Costs – from chemicals to vehicles to construction materials – continue to rise, Highman said. For example, the price of sodium hypochlorite, which is a type of chlorine that treats toxins and other bacteria in water, increased by 39% compared to last year, and polymer increased by 21%, according to figures provided by the service director.
The price of a rear-loading garbage truck has gone up by nearly 40% since 2019, from $270,000 to $377,000 and up 15% from just the year before.
Multiple sewer replacement projects became millions of dollars more expensive due to the rise in materials cost. The Allen Avenue sanitary sewer replacement project originally was expected to be $3.34 million, but its costs increased by 105% to $6.8 million.
The city also has significant building projects that it soon will have to begin paying on its loans.
The city has taken out a $10 million loan to build a new sanitation building, which is now under construction and expected to open later this year. The building will give city employees responsible for waste removal their own space (they currently operate out of a small area within the Service Center) and it will allow the city to park its vehicles inside.
“If we’re going to spend $400,000 for a vehicle …, we shouldn’t let it sit outside to rust, which is what we’ve been essentially doing,” Highman said.
How much will I pay for sanitation services?
The monthly fee for trash and recycling pickup will increase from $25.57 to $26.44 for Canton residents and from $29.42 to $30.42 a month for out-of-city customers.
The monthly cost for the smallest dumpster ― 1 cubic yard ― will increase from $63.93 to $66.10, and the largest dumpster ― 8 cubic yards ― will rise from $204.58 to $211.54. The 72-hour rental rates will increase by 3%, ranging from $132.20 for a 6-cubic-yard dumpster to $429.67 for a 20-cubic-yard dumpster.
To help reduce costs, the city plans to buy two 13-yard packers instead of the traditional 25-yard garbage trucks. The smaller vehicles, which are replacing recycling trucks, are $150,000 less expensive per truck and will give the department the ability to fit into smaller alleys.
How much will I pay for water?
The average city resident’s water bill will cost $15.86, which is $0.52 a month more than last year. Out-of-city customers pay a 150% surcharge for water service.
Highman said the increased rate ensures the department can continue to follow industry standards and replace 1% of city water mains – roughly 6.5 miles of pipe – a year
The Water Department also has a $46 million renovation underway at the Sugar Creek Water Treatment Plant and wellfield, which supplies roughly half of Canton’s daily drinking water. The upgrades, which began a year ago, will renovate the entire facility, replace aging equipment and structures, provide redundancy and flexibility, and address safety and code requirements. The project is expected to be completed by October 2025.
Other upcoming city water projects include the nearly $12 million renovation and expansion of the water department service shop, which is expected to begin this summer, and the $26 million replacement of the Cromer Water Storage Reservoir, which is expected to begin at the end of 2025.
How much will I pay for sewer services?
The sewer rate will increase by $1.19 a month for an average residential monthly bill of $20.98. The minimum residential bill would be $9.73 a month.
Due to a U.S. EPA mandate, the city must inspect and clean the sewer system every five years, which has increased costs.
Highman said the sewer department also has lost $1.96 million in revenue since 2021 due to the closings of Allegheny Technologies and Republic Steel and due to operational changes at another industrial customer.
Three upcoming projects planned for the Water Reclamation Facility include a $5 million raw pump replacement, a $24 million electrical improvement project and nearly $21 million to replace the plant’s membranes over four years.
To save money, the department has reduced the number of operators and its overtime costs at the Water Reclamation Facility and is splitting bid packages for projects where it can take three years for equipment to arrive with the hope that seeking prices on the equipment sooner will result in a lower price.
Doesn’t Canton City Council need to approve the increase?
No. Under Canton’s laws, the service director can enact rate increases without council approval. City laws require the service director to notify council of the sewer and sanitation rates before March 1 of each year and specify that the rates will go into effect 45 days from the notification date if no further action by council is taken. State law requires the service director to set the water rates.
During a recent council committee meeting about the rate increases, Ward 9 Councilman Frank Morris III raised the same concerns he had in previous years.
He said while the average customer rate may only be $30 a year, he has found that the actual rate to be much higher.
He said the higher amount can pose a significant burden for older residents who already are struggling with increases in groceries and other necessities.
Highman, who lives in the city, said the decision to raise rates is never taken lightly and is done in consultation with each of the department heads and the finance director.
“Of course, it’s going impact the seniors and it’s going to impact the single mother with two kids trying to make ends meet. It’s going to impact everybody,” Highman said. “But the fact of the matter is that if I come down here and lie and B.S. you guys, we’re going to be like Flint, Michigan. We’re going to be like all these other places that have these problems. It is my duty to come down here and not lie and not (mislead) you. I would not be doing my job.”
Reach Canton Repository staff writer Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton to raise sanitary, sewer and water rates on March 31
