A company servicing San Tan Valley wants to increase wastewater costs by more than 50% and homeowners aren’t happy about it.
EPCOR , which provides wastewater and water services to the area, has applied to the Arizona Corporation Commission for a 51.94% increase on monthly wastewater bills and a 13% increase on water.
For an everyday user, that could look like a rate hike from $46 to $70 a month for wastewater alone.
“My next-door neighbors are in their 80s, they’re retired, they’re on a fixed income,” homeowner Samantha LeBaron said. “And then there’s an increase on their utilities?”
Residents are worried about the impact of this potential hike, compounding with other costs that have skyrocketed in recent years, from groceries, gas and electricity, to home and car insurance.
“We’re seeing [people] putting their day-to-day living costs on credit cards such as groceries and utility bills and eventually they need to sell their homes,” realtor and San Tan Valley homeowner Melanie Scow said. “We need to be able to budget year to year and increases of 20 to 50 percent across the board in every utility are really going to hurt families.”