Civic Issues
Topics getting the most attention in Richland Hills public meetings, ranked by how frequently they are discussed.
6 issues in water utilities
Utility rate increases from Fort Worth
Fort Worth is raising the city's water purchase cost 15% and wastewater 18%. Staff will bring back a rate ordinance update so the utility fund doesn't run a deficit — expect residents to see changes on their water bills.
Aging city IT network replacement
The city's 16 network switches — some dating to 2018 — are aging out of support, and replacing them piecemeal would cost roughly $99,000 up front. Staff propose a Meter "network as a utility" subscription at about $27,118 a year for five years, covering hardware, monitoring, firewalls and Wi-Fi with free upgrades. Council wants longer-term pricing and a cost comparison before signing anything.
Water and Wastewater Rate Ordinance Revision
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.
Atmos Energy Rate Settlement
A consent-agenda resolution approving a negotiated settlement over Atmos Energy's 2026 rate filing — this affects natural gas bills for area customers.
IT Infrastructure Replacement Package
The city's network gear is at or past end of life. The council chose to buy Fortinet equipment and Dell servers outright (about $596,000 total) instead of a seven-year Meter subscription that would have cost roughly $306,000 for the network alone, saving money and keeping the city from paying for monitoring twice.
Emergency wastewater main repair
An old clay sewer main on Willow Park was root-blocked and replaced via pipe-bursting, also fixing infiltration problems in a brick manhole area.