Water and sewer rates are going up in Locust Grove. The Public Works Authority board of trustees voted 3-1 Monday night to raise the rates.

“We are doing our best to get enough money together to make repairs,” Trustee Shawn Bates said. “We’ve got a bunch of projects that are going to cost a lot of money.”

The board agreed on two proposals. The first raises the base water rate from $16.50 for the first 1,000 gallons of water to $19. The board also accepted a proposal that would raise sewer rates from $15.50 to $18 per 1,000 gallons.

“On the water, the base rate is the only rate increase,” Bates said.

Bates said wastewater costs more to treat than drinking water and the board wanted to make the sewer rate proportionate to the water rate.

“In theory, we should charge more (for sewer) than we do for water,” Bates said.

The sewer increase will have the $2.50 base increase then will step up at different intervals. The first 1,000 gallons will cost $18. At 2,000 gallons, it increases to $22. At 3,000 gallons, the price goes up to $24.75, then the price jumps to $28.25 at 11,000 gallons.

“Ninety-two percent of our customers use 10,000 gallons or less,” Bates said.

By that standard, the average family in Locust Grove will pay roughly $57.75 for water and sewer.

The town has also received a grant from Cherokee Nation and been approved for a loan from Community Resource Group. The loan will help repair the town’s water filtration system. When the town began looking for funding, Locust Grove had suffered a stretch of water line breaks. Fixing the line and paying contractors ate into the Public Works Authority revenue.

The loan was to help offset some of the cost in case the remaining revenue was needed for an emergency. Since then, Bates said the town has built up the money in PWA revenue but there were concerns it wasn’t enough.

“Our funds got real low. We saw an immediate need to find funds to repair the filtration system,” Bates said. “Now we have our revenue where we need it to be. We’re looking at $60,000 to replace the filtration.”

The board voted to proceed with the low interest loan as a precaution. The money will help fix the problem at the water plant, freeing up funds to work on other problems.

Mayor Terry Cooper told the board he doesn’t support the town getting the loan now. He held true to that statement as the only no vote. Joe Halford was not present for the vote.