photo by: Mike Yoder

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured Thursday, July 7, 2016.

The City of Lawrence will delay the rollout of a new water billing method because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The City Commission voted this week to delay the implementation of its inclining block rate billing, which charges a higher water rate for higher consumption. The delay came at the recommendation of city staff, who said in a memo to the commission that residents will likely be using more water than usual under the stay-at-home order. The memo states this increased water usage could cause residents to go into the higher rates at a time of financial uncertainty.

Under the new billing method, the city will identify average water use for every Lawrence household during the winter months, and households have to pay 10% to 15% more for water significantly beyond that amount, as the Journal-World previously reported. The new billing method is meant to discourage irrigation and encourage water conservation, and was to go into effect May 1.

The new method will now be proposed with the 2021 water rates, according to the memo. The water rate increase adopted for 2020 will generate the same amount of revenue without the inclining blocks.