ESCANABA — Escanaba residents should plan for increases on their utility bills beginning this summer, as substantial increases are planned for both water and wastewater rates.

The planned increases include a 5% increase in wastewater rates and an 8% increase in the rate for water. The city points to a number of reasons for the increases, many of which are related to aging or failing infrastructure and declining water usage.

“Every time we crank the rates up people use less water, and obviously, that dictates a lot of the increase alone due to less revenue coming in,” said Escanaba Water and Wastewater Superintendent Jeff Lampi during the water and wastewater session of this week’s city budget workshops.

The drop in usage is not exclusively tied to water rates. Many water-using fixtures in homes, such as toilets and faucets, have become more water efficient over the years as consumer eye both cost savings and environmental impact.

Still, the drop in revenue has significantly impacted the water and wastewater departments. When compared to past budget work sessions, discussions of major capital improvement projects were strangely absent despite a list of wants and needs being presented to the city council. According to City Manager Jim McNeil, those projects are still being planned, but will be funded primarily through bonds.

“There’s a number of larger items that we’re going to have to bond — kind of bundle and bond. Both funds don’t have the cash to take on that much work all at once. Typically, utilities can go two ways: you try to cash fund all of your work or you can bond out, bundle and bond. If we were to trying and cash fund everything it would be very, very large rate increases for many years,” said McNeil.

No specific details about how the projects would be bundled or how the proposed bonds would impact the city’s millage rate were presented during the session Monday. However, it was noted that the water department was looking at issuing a bond in the upcoming fiscal year, specifically because the fund could run into negative cashflow this year given increases in the cost of items like filters.

No bond is currently planned for the wastewater department for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, though bonds are expected for the department in the future.

Much of the discussion during the session revolved around meeting requirements from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration, commonly known as MIOSHA, and reducing infiltration and inflow of water into the city’s sewer system.

According to Lampi, many of the day-to-day work done at the water and wastewater plant that has been done the same way for 30 years or more has come under scrutiny from MIOSHA. The specific example given Monday was the replacement of blown fuses, which has historically been done in house. Now, the city is being directed to hire a specially licensed electrician for the work or follow specific safety practices that could include shutting down the entire water plant to replace a single fuse.

One step the city is planning to help bring the plants into compliance is to have an arc flash study done. The study would identify what circumstances could trigger electricity to arc from panels and equipment at both plants so workers can follow proper procedures to mitigate the risk.

The study and other changes needed to be complaint with MIOSHA aren’t cheap, but McNeil said the cost of coming into compliance is likely less than fines.

For most of Lampi’s presentation, a recorded video of a section of sewer on South 8th Street was projected onto a screen in the city hall council’s chambers. At various points, the video displayed large cracks in the clay sewer pipe, water inflowing into the pipe and thick clumps of roots that blocked the intersections between the laterals to resident’s homes and the sewer main itself.

Lampi explained that the city was looking at substantial costs for filming the sewers and installing linings to protect the pipes, but that there was really nothing the city could do about the clogged laterals because laterals are considered the property of the homeowner. That means the city will continue to have problems with infiltration and inflow coming from the lateral lines, increasing costs related to having non-sewer water in the sewers. Those costs include higher expenses for treating water and costs related to the city failing to meet state environmental regulations.

Even if the city were able to line the laterals, doing so would likely be cost prohibitive — though full lateral replacements for homeowners could cost more. Lampi warned that homeowners with clogged laterals could face thousands of dollars in repairs if the laterals completely fail and suggested that residents take out insurance policies on the lines through their home owners insurance provider.