In the coming years, residents in St. Louis and surrounding areas will pay higher wastewater bills to the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District. The utility will ask the public whether to use $500 million in bonds to help pay for those improvements, along with $550 million in cash. The board’s 6-0 vote at Thursday’s meeting starts the process of filing paperwork to place a proposition measure on local ballots for April 7, 2020.
If the bond proposal is approved, monthly bills for typical residential customers will gradually rise from about $55.57 in 2020 to $62.59 per month by 2024, according to MSD’s rate commission. But if the measure is rejected, the utility will rely entirely on cash to fund the projects within its capital improvement and repairs program. For typical residential bills, that no-bond alternative would mean gradual increases from $55.57 to $86.12 per month, over the same four-year interval.