Kansas City residents could get relief on water bills under new agreement with EPA
Relief may be coming for residents whose water bills have skyrocketed over the last decade because of Kansas City’s federally mandated sewer upgrades.
The improvements are meant to address sewage overflows and upgrade Kansas City’s aging infrastructure — mandated in a consent decree signed in 2010 by the city, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice.
But for years the upgrades have forced steep increases to residents’ water rates.
Now it appears City Hall has reached a tentative agreement with the federal government that might ease that burden. City Council members voted unanimously Thursday to allow the city to execute that amended agreement. Officials in the EPA and DOJ would need to approve it.
The legislation doesn’t provide details, but says the amended agreement “sets achievement of specific performance criteria on a schedule that recognizes the financial capabilities of the city and its ratepayers,” indicating it might ease the expense of the program.
Mayor Quinton Lucas saw it as a win and commended city staff and members of Missouri’s congressional delegation who helped push the effort along.
“We have worked long and worked hard to bring more fair rates to the many who are struggling to keep up with their water bills and to add climate-sustaining green infrastructure to our water upgrade program,” Lucas said in a statement. “I’ve met personally with EPA leadership in Washington, Kansas City, and anywhere we could share the story of our City’s renewed commitment to do right by our people and our environment.”
City officials have been working to reach a revised consent decree for years as they struggled to keep residents’ water and sewer rates more manageable.
Before the consent decree, the average Kansas City water bill was just over $48. In 2019, it was over $100. Updated figures were not immediately available Thursday afternoon.
As the city and the EPA were negotiating the original agreement, double-digit rate increases were deemed affordable because incomes in Kansas City historically had risen by nearly 3% per year. But when the Great Recession hit, income levels suffered.
The EPA did not immediately return a request for comment.
