GCWW Water Rate Battle Heads To Court

Thursday, September 13, 2018 at 9:38 AM

By Mike Perleberg @mikedup84

Greater Cincinnati Water Works bills for customers outside the City of Cincinnati could increase dramatically depending on the court case outcome.

(Cincinnati, Oh.) – The battle over a water rate increases for some customers of Greater Cincinnati Water Works has reached a boiling point.

Cincinnati City Council voted in June to raise water rates by 18 percent for customers living in unincorporated areas – such as villages and townships – of Hamilton County.

The City of Cincinnati says customers outside of the city limits should pay extra for the added cost of delivering water service to them. However, Hamilton County Commissioners are opposed to the increase and calling it unfair.

The county filed a lawsuit to stop the rate increase. Just days before a 1987 contract between the city and county expired on September 1, a Hamilton County judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing the rate increase from going into effect.

The two sides met in court Wednesday. No ruling was made, pending another court hearing on October 1.

Currently, county area GCWW customers are charged 25 percent more than what customers in the City of Cincinnati pay each month. If the rate increase goes through, customers outside the city will be required to pay 43 percent more than city customers.

The city manager says rate multipliers in other similar city-county water situations range up to 85 percent.