On Tuesday, the Bentonville City Council postponed a vote to double water rates, citing a need for more public communication on the issue.

The city has been discussing adopting the water rate increase for several months after a third-party consultant recommended the steep increase to keep up with expenses. 

If passed as currently proposed, here’s what the rate increase would mean:

• Customers will see an increase to both monthly fixed service charges and water usage rates as of April 1. This includes residential, commercial and irrigation customers. 

• For a typical single-family household, the service charge will increase from $7.71 to $15.42 per month. Customers will pay $7.74 per 1,000 gallons of water used up to 4,000 gallons, up from $3.87. If a household uses irrigation, those rates would double as well.

• The rate increase will apply only to the water portion of city utility bills, which also include electricity, sewer, trash and recycling. A typical household will see about a 12% increase in their total monthly utility bill. For the average water user, this amounts to around $25 more a month.

To compare water rates in Northwest Arkansas: If the proposed increase passes, a residential household within Bentonville using 4,000 gallons of water for the month would see a bill of $46.38 plus taxes.

The Bentonville Bulletin called other water departments around Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday to see what their bills would be with the same usage. A representative from each utility reported the following: Bella Vista, $52.51; Centerton, $45.11; Rogers, $22.11; Springdale, $26.31; Fayetteville, $27.72.

Why Double Rates?

The city contracted with Raftelis Financial Consultants, Inc. — a consulting firm for local governments and utilities — to perform the rate analysis. The company’s analysis examined future infrastructure needs, rising operating costs from inflation, and expenses tied to the city's rapid growth. 

Raftelis’ financial plan also budgets millions of dollars for leak repairs as the city works to combat water lost to leaks in the system. 

“There's a lot of reasons to start adjusting,” Mike Bender, city public works director, told The Bentonville Bulletin on Wednesday. “The biggest issue is the loss that we're facing. That is the biggest driver … and why it's in such a short timeframe.”

Raftelis noted that current water revenues provide around $17 million of the $27 million of projected expenses for 2025, and that yearly expenses would exceed $40 million by 2030.

The city has also not had a rate increase since 2021. In 2020, Raftelis conducted a study and recommended a 4% water rate increase annually from 2021 to 2024. However, only the increase for 2021 was adopted.

Council member Chris Sooter said he’s heard assumptions that Council isn’t looking at other opportunities for funding.

“We will look at impact fees, we will look at capacity fees, we are taking loans with low interest rates from the Arkansas Natural Resource Commission,” he said. “There are lots of things we're doing and it’s a combined effort, it's not just raising the rates, and that's it.”

What’s Next?

The city added a public meeting scheduled for Monday, March 10 at 6 p.m. at City Hall to discuss water rates and answer questions from residents. Mayor Stephanie Orman also said they would release an FAQ about the potential rate increase after the idea was suggested by Bentonville resident Mary Zettle during the public comment period.

The city plans to revisit water rates annually.

Raftelis is also studying sewer rates and plans to provide more information on potential rate increases to those rates on March 10 as well. The company does not expect their recommendation on sewer rates increases to be as high as water.