Water and Wastewater Rate Ordinance Revision
Summary
Water and wastewater bills are going up as step two of a four-year rate plan — about 5% on base fees and a 38.7% jump in the wastewater volume rate over 2,000 gallons. Heavy water users feel it most, but the city says the average bill rises only a few percent and winter averaging shields summer yard watering.
At a glance
- Total mentions
- 5
- Last 30 days
- 0
Discussed at 1 meeting in the last 60 days; most recently Sep 14, 2026.
Impact analysis
Expect roughly a 3–5% overall utility bill increase; heavy yard-watering households could see larger wastewater volume charges.
The utility fund — and all ratepayers long-term — benefit as the city stops subsidizing wastewater costs from the base fee.
Households with high water use, like frequent yard-waterers, face steeper volumetric wastewater charges.
Mentions & discussions (5)
City Council - Sep 14, 2026
Wholesale costs from Fort Worth (water up 10.68%, sewer up 18% on the pass-through) are forcing a rate update. A typical household would pay about $6.95 more per month, and the utility fund runs dry by 2029 if rates stay flat. The city is also carrying a $2.7 million annual gap in infrastructure replacement funding.
City Council - Apr 27, 2026
Instead of tweaking fees piecemeal, staff will audit every city fee against actual cost of service and bring one ordinance with the October budget — fixing errors in a flawed earlier rate ordinance along the way.
City Council - Mar 23, 2026
Fort Worth is raising water and sewer impact fees on new development in two phases (October 2025 and October 2026), and Richland Hills must mirror the rates in its own ordinance — a combined fee for a typical 3/4-inch meter climbs from $8,256 to $8,742 next October. Existing residents aren't affected unless they add a meter, and the city determined it's not worth a ~$150,000 study to add local fees on top.
City Council - Mar 9, 2026
The rate ordinance passed in February has drafting errors — including charging per gallon instead of per thousand gallons — so it's coming back for repeal and replacement. Council also wants a pass-through charge shown separately on bills and more of the wastewater cost shifted to volume instead of the fixed base charge that hits fixed-income households hardest.
City Council - Feb 9, 2026
Water and wastewater bills are going up as step two of a four-year rate plan — about 5% on base fees and a 38.7% jump in the wastewater volume rate over 2,000 gallons. Heavy water users feel it most, but the city says the average bill rises only a few percent and winter averaging shields summer yard watering.
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