The Cassville City Council is considering raising the water and sewer rates for the city, starting July 1.

For three years, the city has not altered its rates, with a base of $13.73 for water and $11.09 for sewer, plus $4.36 per 1,000 gallons of water use and $8.78 per 1,000 gallons of sewer use.

Richard Asbill, Cassville city administrator, said 92% of utility customers in Cassville use an average of 5,000 gallons of water and sewer per month, putting the average bill at $90.52.

In March, Asbill presented the City Council with three possibilities — 3%, 4% and 5% hikes — and proposed a combination of percentage hikes over the next six years.

A 3% hike would add $2.72 to the average bill in the remainder of 2025 and $5.51 in 2026 compared to the current average bill. A 4 hike would be $3.62 in 2025 and $7.39 in 2026, and a 5% hike would be $4.53 in 2025 and $9.28 in 2026.

Asbill said multiple cities in the region have recently raised rates significantly, some by as much as 15%, which is not an approach Cassville wishes to take. He said anything more than 5% is too significant, but the city needs about 8-9% to catch up after thee years of flat rates.

“Last month, the council asked for scenarios looking 5-7 years ahead,” Asbill said. “The last few months, area communities have made big increases to water and sewer rates, and we want to be proactive and appropriate with multiple smaller raises versus a large increase to catch up.”

In March, Asbill proposed a tiered structure, with a 5% increase effective July 1 and running through 2026, then a 4% increase in 2027 and 2028, and a 3% increase in 2029-2031. While this was his proposal, Asbill said the council may set one rate hike for 20252026, then reevaluate needs before deciding what to do in 2027 and going forward.

“We just finished a $5 million sewer project, and while we’ve had no rate increase since 2021 and 3-1/2 years of stable rates is a positive thing, the negative is that we’ve not seen any stability in things like [water department equipment] and labor costs.”

Asbill said the sewer project is now in Cassville’s debt service, and the water project, planned four years ago with an estimated price tag of $3 million, is now looking to be more in the $5 million range.

“Because of that’s, we’re having to carve the water project into shot-term, middle-term and long-term projects,” Asbill said. “We need to generate funds for the short-term projects like infrastructure improvements. Then, when we get two or three years down the road, we can reevaluate options based on debt service and our flexibility financially.”