Eudora water and sewer service rates will increase in 2021 to help fund future upgrades to the city’s water and sewer plants.

On Nov. 23, the Eudora City Commission approved an 8% increase to water rates and a 2% increase to sewer rates for next year. These amounts were originally decided as part of the 2021 budget process this past summer.

Eudora Mayor Tim Reazin said the increases are intended to cover the city’s increased operational costs for the utility services, as well as to provide funding for improvements to the city’s water and sewer plants. He said the city’s growth in the last 10 years means the plants need to be upgraded to meet residents’ demand.

Exactly what these upgrades might entail isn’t clear yet. While Reazin estimated that the improvements would take place within the next five years, he said further discussions were needed about the scope and the details. That includes what the improvements would cost and whether the city should build new facilities or just add onto the existing facilities.

“We want to make sure when we’re finished we have enough pressure and flow,” Reazin said. “I don’t want to add 100 houses and not have adequate pressure or flow, or find out we have 40 existing houses without adequate pressure and flow because we diverted service. I don’t want to build something and then in 20 years have someone say, ‘Oops, we should have built it bigger.'”