Expect your water bill to be substantially higher.

Sharply on the heels of the annual rate adjustment for the City of Houston water and wastewater services that went into effect April 1, an additional rate increase went into effect June 1.

The June rate increase is much more significant than the 14 cents-per-month adjustment in April and has generated intense debate.

“I’ve owned my own businesses since my 20s but I haven’t gotten politically involved until the past year,” said Bobby Jordan, local business owner and member of the Kingwood Tea Party.

Jordan traveled to Austin the morning of June 14 to attend a hearing for the rate increase and is concerned about the effects the rate increase will have on multi-family property owners.

“Renters have year-long leases but the increased water rates go into effect now. Property owners will not be able to raise rents to cover the extra expense until the contracts expire.”

The City filed a lawsuit against itself in Travis County as a preemptive measure to validate the rate increase. The water system reportedly loses about $100 million a year and City officials believe the rate increase is necessary to maintain the system and provide for upgrades to the outdated infrastructure. The hearing was held June 14 and the City was represented by a team of attorneys.

Members of the Kingwood Tea Party traveled to Austin hoping to have the opportunity to speak against the increase.

The rate validation hearing was “an action the city brought,” said Dave Feldman, an attorney representing the city of Houston. “The venue can be in Travis County or the home county and is typically brought in Travis County because the courts are more familiar with these issues.”

Initially the hearing was scheduled for May but rescheduled for June 14. If anyone intervenes in the original hearing it is automatically reset to allow all parties time to prepare for a full hearing. In this case, Paul Bettencourt and Bruce Holtze have intervened to challenge the rate increases.

Water customers in single-family homes should expect a 30 percent increase in monthly water bills over the next four years; however, apartment and condominium-dwellers will experience an immediate 23 percent increase. The difference in rate increases represents the City’s effort to equalize the rates single-family home residents and apartment-dwellers pay for water and wastewater services.

City of Houston water customers residing in single-family homes have been paying at rates below the cost of delivering water to their homes and the four-year rate increase schedule is designed to balance the cost of service with the rates customers are paying.

The initial rate increase for single family homes will be about 12.5 percent and went into effect June 1. The remaining increases will be part of the annual April 1 adjustments for the three years starting in 2011. The average home uses about 6,000 gallons of water per month and will see their water bill rise from $47 to about $60 per month once the full rate increase has been implemented.

“I voted against this rate increase, as I viewed it as punitive and unfair,” said Houston City Councilman Mike Sullivan. “Residential customers have nowhere else to purchase their water and the city is holding them hostage with these new rates. I also believe that the city is violating Proposition 2, which restricts increases to the sum of population growth and inflation, which is nowhere near the 30 percent that the city council and mayor approved. Just remember that I strongly opposed the rate hike and voted against it.”