ELGIN – Starting in January 2026, a new $6 fee will appear on Elgin residents’ monthly water bills.
The Elgin City Council voted 3-0 July 8 to approve the fee, which will be listed as a capital improvement infrastructure assessment on residents’ water bills. Councilwoman Holly Martinez was absent.
The fee, which will be charged per water connection, will begin with the January 2026 billing cycle.
The city may use proceeds from the fee only for water and wastewater system improvements and payments on the debt service associated with those projects.
The revenue from the fee will help the city repay a $4.9 million loan from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, which must be repaid in 30 years. The city sought the loan to cover the cost of upgrading wastewater lagoons and building a new well.
In June, the Elgin Public Works Authority authorized the city to accept the OWRB loan and extend the existing financing for the new well from a 15-year note to 30 years. As part of the loan agreement, the OWRB required the city to raise its utility rates to offset the loan payment.
The new fee may be a permanent addition to residents’ water bills, said Mayor JJ Francais.
“I don’t foresee this ever coming off,” he said. “But I will tell you that it needs to be on there for the next 30 years and four months so that we can pay this new loan off.”
In a related development, the council approved a proposal to raise sewer rates starting in January. The rate is currently set at $12.78 for the first 2,000 gallons and 70 cents for every 1,000 gallons after that.
Beginning with the January billing cycle, those rates will increase to $16.78 for the first 2,000 gallons and 90 cents for every 1,000 gallons after that.
The extra revenue from the new sewer rates will also help the city pay off its OWRB loan.