Proposed St. Louis water hikes could add nearly $29 a month

St. Louis residents could see their water bills rise significantly over the next six years under a proposed plan city officials say is necessary to stabilize an aging system strained by years of patchwork repairs, mounting deficits and growing infrastructure demands.

The proposal — introduced after an initial public town hall April 21 at Buder Library and heading into another public meeting May 6 at O’Fallon Park Rec Complex — comes as city leaders warn that deferred investment, rising costs and looming federal mandates have pushed the Water Division to a financial and operational crossroads.

The six-year proposal follows a 3% CPI-U water rate adjustment that took effect Jan. 1 under a previous city ordinance.

Under the new plan, the first phase would include two 18% increases in 2026 and 2027, followed by three 6% increases from 2028 through 2030 and two smaller increases in 2031 and 2032. Officials said that while the full plan could raise the average residential bill by roughly $29 a month by 2032, the initial increases would likely mean about $7 to $9 more per month during the early phases, depending on usage.

Residents currently pay about $35 to $45 a month on average, according to the Water Division. Even with the proposed hikes, officials said city water rates would remain among the lowest in the region.

City leaders said the proposal is based on a water rate sufficiency study conducted by engineering consulting firm Black & Veatch, which concluded that higher rates are needed to address staffing shortages, aging infrastructure, rising material costs and recurring system failures.

Special Assistant to the Water Commissioner Spencer Gould said the division can no longer afford to rely primarily on temporary repairs while larger infrastructure needs continue to grow.

“If you have a $20,000 car, spending $6,000 a year to (repair) it isn’t necessarily the best course of action,” Gould said. “Sometimes you need to just buy a new car. We have some parts of our treatment system that we are continuing to do patchwork repairs on, because we’re not in a fiscal position where we can fully replace them.”

Gould said the plan is intended to move the division from reactive emergency fixes to proactive long-term investment.

The financial pressure is substantial. Water Division officials told the Board of Aldermen in March that the system was projecting nearly a $10 million deficit by the end of June. Gould said the division has effectively operated at a deficit for about seven years, with federal relief funds providing only temporary support.

More than $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds have supported infrastructure projects and customer assistance efforts, while the Board of Aldermen also approved redirecting about $5.5 million in unspent ARPA money to the system. In March, Mayor Cara Spencer signed Board Bill 161, reallocating roughly $6.8 million more for water infrastructure replacement and repair.

Officials said those reallocations may provide important short-term support, but they do not resolve deeper structural problems.

Among the biggest challenges is compliance with a 2024 Environmental Protection Agency rule requiring cities to identify and replace lead service lines within 10 years — a process Gould said could cost St. Louis as much as $500 million.

The city is still working to identify about 50,000 unknown water lines, many dating back generations. In the meantime, officials said corrosion-control measures are being used to reduce lead exposure risks while the city pursues federal grants and other financing options.

Staffing is another major concern.

Gould said increased revenue would also help the division attract and retain skilled workers as it competes with private employers and other utilities for operators, maintenance crews and technical staff. Mayor Cara Spencer has said city employees will soon receive at least a 3% raise.

“For us to be able to pay for that, we need to make sure that we’re collecting enough,” Gould said. “We need a stable workforce, and we’re competing for skilled operators, maintenance staff, technical positions all over our division.”

The average pay for Water Division employees was $72,069 in 2025.

The proposed increases also come as the city continues collecting millions in overdue water bills after ending a five-year pandemic-era moratorium. As of late last year, more than 16,000 accounts still had unpaid balances.

Officials expanded payment plans from 12 to 24 months and increased eligibility for assistance programs, but Gould said the proposed hikes are not intended to cover delinquent bills. Instead, he said, the increases are aimed at securing the long-term sustainability of the system itself.

“We’ve had a lot of success in addressing overdue bills,” Gould said. “Having a stable system puts us in a better position to work with customers.”

For residents, the proposal could mean paying more for water in the coming years. But city officials argue the larger cost of continued underinvestment could be even greater if aging infrastructure failures, workforce shortages and regulatory demands continue to escalate.

The next public town hall is scheduled for May 6 at O’Fallon Park Rec Complex. Residents can also submit comments online at stlwater.com.

“We’re going to put forward our proposal that was determined by our rate sufficiency study,” Gould said. “What may change is how we get there.”

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