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Is relief in sight for skyrocketing water bills in Saline?

City of Saline water tower
Dwight Burdette
/
Wikipedia Media Commons
City of Saline water tower

Residents experiencing skyrocketing bills for water and sewage in the City of Saline may be getting some relief. But the relief will not impact the sticker shock they were hit with last year.

The City of Saline is facing a $64 million bill for mandated improvements to its wastewater treatment plant. So last year, they had to increase residents’ water and sewer bills by nearly 30% to cover costs, and it’s looking like they would have to increase that same percentage again this year.

But city manager Colleen O’Toolesays some $2 million that appears earmarked in the state’s budget — and another $5 million from the feds — could mean this year’s increase could be substantially less than predicted.

“Our goal moving forward is to not have increases really get beyond the 3-5% range, very nominally increases annually.”

So, they’re waiting until December to see if those funds come in, in hopes that the water bill’s increase for next year can be minimized.

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Cathy Shafran was WEMU's afternoon news anchor and local host during WEMU's broadcast of NPR's All Things Considered.
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