City water rates expected to increase

Ruston city utility customers can expect to pay higher water rates next year even though the Board of Aldermen hasn’t yet made that official.

Aldermen are set to introduce an ordinance during their Monday evening meeting that raises the capacity charge for both residential and commercial customers and creates a one-time impact fee for new meters.

The changes apply only to water rates and are unavoidable, Mayor Ronny Walker said.

The reason: The city accepted roughly $4 million in federal Water Sector Program money. One of the requirements of the WSP grant is a water rate study conducted by a firm the state chooses followed by mandatory implementation of the study results, which in Ruston’s case is the first significant rate increase in 15 years, official said.

If the city refuses to up customers’ rates, it must repay the grant money.

Walker said he should have pushed gradual rate increases before but didn’t. That’s why the pending increase may be sizeable for some users.

“We haven’t raised our rates. We tried to keep them low, but now we’ve gotten the federal money,” he said.

The city has no choice but to raise rates, he said.

The rate increase is effective Jan.1 but won’t show up for most customers until their February utility bills.

The city of Grambling raised its water rates in late 2023 for the same reason.

In other pending action Monday, Ruston aldermen will consider an ordinance allowing the city to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement with Long, LLC, to sell or lease slightly more than a half-acre next to the sports complex tennis courts for construction of a six-court pickleball facility.

They’ll also consider setting in motion the potential sale of 15 acres inside the sports complex to the Lincoln Parish School Board for construction of a softball facility.