The High Hill Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance to increase sewer rates for all residents during a meeting on May 11.

The new rates will be $21 for the base rate and $5 per 1,000 gallons. The current rates are $18 for the base charge and $3.01 per 1,000 gallons. The last sewer rate increase was on July 1, 2022.

The rate change will be first made public to residents in July, then it will take place at the end of September.

A public hearing was held during the meeting. One resident spoke about the increase.

“I guess you got to do what you got to do,” High Hill resident Tom Burns said. “It sounds good to me.”

City officials made two proposals during the meeting. The first one was $20 for the base charge and $5 per 1,000 gallons and the second was $29.60 for the base charge and $3.01 per 1,000 gallons.

With the new rates, residents will see an $8.97 increase in their sewer bills starting this fall. City Clerk Lorie King said the reason for the increase is that High Hill’s lagoons have been outdated and they have been neglected for years.

“I don’t want an increase either, but we don’t have a choice,” she said. “If we do have a choice, we could wait.”

According to the report that was made at the public hearing, city officials entered a schedule of compliance in 2014 to repair and improve the lagoon to meet new ammonia and E. coli limits. The schedule of compliance and operating permit expired in April.

During the fall of 2025, city officials submitted a milestone list to the Department of Natural Resources. That included the sewer rate increase. In the April 13 Board of Aldermen meeting, a proposal was submitted for a show of good faith increase that was required by DNR.

Mayor Tom Stine said since the city’s water rates are going up in June, he thought it would be a good idea that the sewer rate increase should take effect in the fall.

“If you want to do it in September, that would be after the summer usage, so that would make sense,” he said. “The summer usage will be July and August.”