HIGHLAND PARK (WWJ) -- Taking a shower, washing your clothes and brushing your teeth will all cost more beginning this summer because of a city in Wayne County that has not paid its debts.
Water and sewer rates will be going up for Metro Detroiters this summer after the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) Board of Directors voted unanimously Wednesday on the increase.
Water rates will go up by 3.7% and sewer rates by 2.4% starting in July.
WWJ's Jon Hewett reports that this approval comes despite the concerns of several residents who are upset that a good portion of the increase is due to the community of Highland Park which has not paid its water bills for the past decade.
The cost of Highland Park's debt, which is approaching $63 million, is to be shared by GLWA's nearly 4 million customers. This concern was addressed by the organization's CEO, Suzanne Coffey.
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"There isn't any profit --there isn't any other way that we can guard our money to do this -- so we have to balance that budget, and so the bad debt recovery component for Highland Park was included in the sewer charges," said Coffey.
GLWA board secretary, Brian Baker, also shares in these concerns, saying that the $63 million that Highland Park has not paid will instead be taken care of by 77 other communities.
They board is looking at another roughly 3% increase come fiscal year 2024 as well.
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