GATESVILLE, Texas (KXXV) — Gatesville residents will soon see a spike in their monthly bills after the city council approved a plan to raise water rates for the first time in a few years.
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“It’s kind of a middle ground,” said Gatesville resident Samantha Saxon. “Some people are like, ‘Oh, we need it.’ Everybody does agree we need it.”
The city said the rate hike is necessary as it faces low lake levels, aging infrastructure, and a growing population. But for many residents, the increase adds to an already heavy financial burden.
“But it's a lot, and your grocery bills are all high, adding more to the water bill and property taxes, it's just increased so much it's gotten so expensive to live out here,” Saxon said.
The new rate means about a $30 increase from the current average bill — part of a broader plan to upgrade the city’s water system.
“There’s a lot of people with fixed incomes that are really upset about it because that $30 is a lot of money for them, and they don't know how they're going to make it work, especially because of some of the military with the shutdown,” Saxon said.
In a statement to 25 News, City Manager Brad Hunt said the city has spent the past two years studying its water and wastewater infrastructure to identify critical needs while staying within TCEQ guidelines.
“The City has taken the better part of the past two years to study our water and wastewater infrastructure and understand the critical needs to keep it functioning at its current level, and within TCEQ guidelines. We submitted a large grant application to the Texas Water Development Board and were passed over despite ranking 25th out of 350 applicants, but we remain undeterred in submitting future applications to offset costs for our customers. While the state funding for this year’s Capital Improvement Projects did not come through, the critical need to upgrade the 38-year-old electric panels at Water Intake and Treatment Plants remains.
As the new rates go into effect, we are taking the below steps to assist our City of Gatesville Water customers with this change:
1. 90-day fee waiver period.
Beginning Dec. 1, 2025, and ending Feb. 28, 2026, the City of Gatesville will waive certain water service-related late fees, including:2. City Manager review of disconnects for non-payment.
- The $35 admin fee for each time the city turns off water service for non-payment of the water account;
- The $22 connection fee for each time the city turns on water service or opens a new account for any water customer;
- The service charge (10% of bill) for bills for water or sewer service not paid on or before the 15th day of the month they become payable; and,
- The $35 admin fee for water and/or sewer service turned off due to delinquent bills.
During the change period, potential disconnects for non-payment will require City Manager review and authorization.
3. Education period.
Beginning Dec. 1, 2025, and ending April 30., 2026, the City of Gatesville will conduct customer education initiatives, including social media PSA’s and issuing free toilet tank flappers with an instruction sheet to anyone who comes in and has a concern about toilet running issues.
We conducted a regional review of water/sewer rates as of October 2025 for eight peer cities and found that our average customer’s bill of $104.98 (assuming a residential ¾” connection and 5,000 gallons of use per month) falls almost directly on the regional average of $104.81 per month. Even so, the Mayor, City Council and I understand that an increase in water and sewer rates will have an impact on our citizens. I personally hope our water customers understand that this rate increase was not taken lightly, is urgent, and will be implemented fairly.”
Saxon said she understands the city’s long-term goals, but hopes the plan proves worthwhile.
“If we can go back, and like five years later, and say we can look back from this and like, we haven't had that one issue, and it worked and it helped with the expansion that they're trying to do for Gatesville, which is a beautiful thing — but if they're unable to make that happen, then no, it's not worth it in the long run,” she said.
