LAWTON – Republic Paperboard Co. agreed recently to pay higher city utility rates that are “closer to those of other industrial users.”
Republic’s rates for water, sewer, and solid waste collection were established by contract with the City of Lawton on June 9, 1998 – and have not changed for almost 26 years.
Although that contract does not expire until next year, Republic Paperboard Co. “has agreed to enter into a new contract to begin implementation of raising these rates,” Public Utilities Director Rusty Whisenhunt informed the City Council.
The new schedule will be phased in over a five-year period and will increase each year until rates reach “current industrial water rates,” he wrote.
Starting with April 1, 2029, rate adjustments will be tied to the South-Central Consumer Price Index based on any change from 12 months earlier. However, the maximum yearover- year increase will be limited to 2%.
Republic has been paying 87 cents per 1,000 gallons of treated water, while it costs the city up to $2.10 per thousand, City Manager John Ratliff said.
Fort Sill, too, will pay the same rate as Republic Paperboard, “and they are our heaviest water user,” Ratliff told Southwest Ledger.
The first rate hike will be imposed retroactively to April 1 and will generate approximately $437,000 through the remainder of Fiscal Year 2024, which ends June 30, Ratliff said. “Closing that gap in rates will be huge.”
Republic’s average water usage is 1.3 million to 1.5 million gallons per day, city officials said.
The additional revenue is needed because the City of Lawton is spending more than $100 million to replace water and sewer lines throughout town and to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant.