St. Cloud Utility Bills Could Rise a Couple of Dollars a Month in 2027

(KNSI) – St. Cloud residents could see slightly higher utility bills next year.

For households with a blue cart for garbage pickup, the increases add up to a couple of dollars a month.

Mayor Jake Anderson walked the St. Cloud City Council through the city’s proposed enterprise fund budget Wednesday. Those funds cover services that are paid for by the people who use them rather than by property taxes, including water and sewer, parking, the Rivers Edge Convention Center and the Municipal Athletic Complex, known as the MAC.

The biggest new proposal is a change to water rates, and how much you pay depends on how much you use. “And it is tiered. If you use more water, you’re going to pay more. If you use less water, your rates shouldn’t change.”

Utility bills in St. Cloud are sent every two months. Households using four units of water or less in that time, about 2,800 gallons, won’t see a change. The average household uses about 4,200 gallons per billing period, and Anderson says those customers would pay about $1.45 more on each bill, or roughly 70 cents a month.

The city is also proposing to raise the streetlight utility fee by 25 cents a month. The money builds up a fund to replace streetlights, including along Kilian Boulevard, where all the lights need to be redone at a cost of about $1 million. Without the fee, Anderson notes, that work would fall on property taxpayers.

He told KNSI News the fee, created in 2011, spreads the cost more fairly. “The key thing with a streetlight utility is all parcels are subject to payment of that fee. When it’s property tax supported, tax exempt properties don’t pay that fee.”

Two other increases were already approved in past years. The blue cart fee for garbage service will rise $1 a month, about $2 on each bill, and the stormwater fee will go up $1.

At the MAC, ice time will cost $10 more an hour, and the city plans to replace its tiered pricing with a single flat rate.

Drivers get a break for now, as parking rates aren’t changing next year. But during Wednesday’s discussion, it became clear that free parking on nights and weekends isn’t sustainable long term given the cost of maintaining the city’s parking ramps. Event parking fees for the River’s Edge and the Paramount Center for the Arts ramp could be on the table in the years ahead.

Anderson says he hears plenty from residents about parking, both at their doors and on social media. “I’m not stupid and I’m not oblivious to what people would like, but I’m also very cognizant of where our budget is in relation to those.”

All told, the enterprise funds make up about $68 million of the city’s budget, with water and wastewater accounting for about 62% of that.

A public hearing on the proposed rates is set for November 16th, and the council is expected to adopt the changes that night. Anderson will also update the council on the general fund budget and final property tax levy, which goes up for a vote in early December. Details on the proposed rates will be posted on the city’s website ahead of the hearing.

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