The Metropolitan Council has announced that its overall wholesale charge for collecting and treating wastewater will jump by 5.8% in 2026. The decision was made public after the Met Council’s meeting on July 23. It’s a change that is set to directly affect the cities and townships throughout the Twin Cities metro area. In contrast, the sewer availability charge for new developments and increasing capacities within the regional wastewater system will not see any increase and will be held steady for the 11th year in a row, the Met Council detailed in a report.
The adjustment to the rates is primarily to sufficiently cover growing inflationary pressures on labor and construction costs and to adequately support technological advances including cybersecurity. The variability in rate increases or decreases for individual cities is going to be dependent largely on the amount of wastewater they contributed to the system back in 2024. Even with the uptick in charges, Twin Cities residents still pay significantly less for sewer service compared to peers across the nation. A survey by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies showed the average annual cost in the region sits at $392, while others pay an average of $604.
In the process of setting rates for the year, the Met Council made an effort to engage with its customer base, specifically more than 135 industrial and municipal stakeholders, to provide input and gain insights. These interactions culminated in multiple workshops and forums aimed at transparency and dialogue around rate-setting. “Our goal is to be transparent about how and why we set the rates each year,” Matt Gsellmeier, budget manager in the Met Council’s Environmental Services division, told the assembly. He added that this approach helps to “talk about our services, learn from our customers, and answer their questions.”…