HILLSBORO, Texas (KXXV) — The city of Hillsboro increased water, sewer, and trash rates for local residents earlier this week -- the fourth increase by the city.
- Water rates increased by 15%
- Residents will see the new rate reflected in August.
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“The situation has gotten very real in terms of water and sewer and the demands on the system," said Megan Henderson, city manager for the city of Hillsboro.
“It’s years of neglect; whoever didn’t handle this, they just passed the buck," said one local resident.
Our neighbors are raising their voices over Hillsboro's decision to up water rates by 15%. It's the fourth time since 2024.
“You’re saying $10, $20; I don’t know where you got that. I’m 77 years old. I don’t see that increase; I see a $200 increase," said one resident.
A few weeks ago, the city mentioned the possibility of increasing water rates to no more than 12% during a council meeting.
But on Monday, council members voted to surpass that percentage.
The city of Hillsboro said high debt is behind the increase — which also includes higher sewer and trash rates. It's mainly the amount owed by Aquilla water and the projects taking place in the city.
“We still haven’t come close to the original goal that was back in April of 2024. So when the council looked at all that history, they said, "What do we really need?" So, we looked at that, and the real need was a 50% increase," said Henderson.
Henderson said at 50% — the city couldn’t lose money in the water and water fund, cover the cost of the Aquila rate increase, and engineering taking place this summer.
But she said her office has already seen some improvements.
“We had to do another increase in November to cover that Aquilla rate increase, but these two increases together… instead of $3.7 million, they only generated $1.5 million in revenue, and $1.1 million of that went to Aquilla," said Henderson.
Henderson said across all three services, some residents could see an increase of about $16 a month depending on the amount of water they use.
