Starting Oct.1, the cost of water, wastewater and gas for residents served by Gainesville Regional Utilities will rise after the Gainesville City Commission and Mayor Craig Lowe approved the GRU-proposed rate increases at a meeting Tuesday.
GRU's plan also included a decrease of the monthly electricity charges to citizens.
With these rate changes, the average resident will see a $4.21 increase on their monthly bill, said Diane Wilson, managing utility analyst at GRU.
An average resident consumes 813 kilowatt hours of electricity, 6,000 gallons of water, 5,000 gallons of wastewater and 25 therms of gas per month.
In the past two years, GRU has noticed a continuous decrease of water usage by its customers. The cost increases are meant to compensate for the pressure on sales it has experienced.
In outlining the rise in the cost of water, GRU divided usage into three tiers.
Rates for customers who use up to 9,000 gallons of water a month will rise about 24 percent.
Customers who use between 10,000 and 24,000 gallons will have a 3 percent rate increase.
The third tier, for any usage above 24,000 gallons, will not have any cost changes.
During the meeting, commissioners were concerned the majority of customers fall under the first tier category, which is to have the largest rate increase.
"My heart just goes out to the first tier because I know a good segment of our citizens who cannot, at this time, afford this increase right now," Gainesville city commissioner Scherwin Henry said.
