Portage residents will soon see a sharp increase in their utility bills. The city council Tuesday approved a four-phase increase to the sewer portion of the bill, drawing applause from the wastewater employees in the audience.
Portage's monthly sewer rate currently stands at $36.50. On October 1, that'll go up to $40.50, but a bigger increase is coming in January, when it'll go up to $53. The rate will then go up to $56.50 in January of 2026 and $58.20 cents in January of 2027.
Sanitary Superintendent Tracie Marshall said that will still leave Portage well below the current state average of $78. "We're very low," she told council members. "We're one of the lowest."
Marshall said the rate hike is needed to cover the rising cost of operations, along with urgently-needed upgrades. She said aging lift stations can lead to backups and deteriorating pipes let rainwater into the system, inundating the treatment plant.
"Some of these pipes, we don't know," Marshall explained. "You guys have seen the pictures. If we don't get them lined, I don't want to say there's going to end up sewage in someone's basement, but that's what the [sewer system overflows] that we get do."
Now, Portage plans to borrow $31 million from the State Revolving Fund to replace the ultraviolet equipment at the wastewater plant, line 15,000 feet of pipe, renovate 12 lift stations and build a new north side interceptor. Marshall said the north side infrastructure lacks capacity for future growth.
"The Southport lift station — so this is the one that brings everything to us from that area — 1,181-percent over capacity," Marshall told council members.
Still, council member Collin Czilli called the increase the hardest decision he's had to make in his nine years on the council. "This is a substantial increase for a substantial project," Czilli said. "Portage has never seen a project like this."
While Czilli ultimately voted in favor, Ferdinand Alvarez cast the lone opposing vote, citing the challenge of balancing the city's future plans with residents' current needs. "Just keeping in mind the 40,000 residents who, perhaps, struggle to pay their bills — and even not the 40,000 — the 1,000, the 500, the 100, the people who for this increase will be too much," Alvarez added.
Mayor Austin Bonta said Portage's utilities should not be profit-driven, but the city needs to maintain them to avoid privatization. "I've had two former mayors who have told me, 'Have you considered just selling the plant and selling the system to a private utility?' My answer is, 'Never.' It will be over my dead body."
In the end, the council decided to delay the first phase of the increase by a month from the original plan, moving it from September to October.
