Effective April 4, 2019, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has approved the South Milwaukee Water Utility’s application to increase water rates by an average of 41%.
Check out the Water Utility web page for more information, including details on the capital project the increase is supporting, the detailed ruling by the PSC and a list of frequently asked questions.
The utility tells me we will start billing the step 1 rates on a prorated basis May 1, and the step 2 rates on Sept. 1.
South Milwaukee Blog 
not cool, they are trying to push residents out with all these increases
Now I’ll have to shower with my husband. Thanks a lot Mayor and all you wonderful common council members
My husband & I moved to S. Milwaukee 12 years ago. It was a relatively inexpensive place to purchase our home – the property taxes were lower than other suburbs, housing market good. We will retire this year & the first action we are taking is putting our home on the market & moving out of S. Milwaukee. The cost of living here has steadily increased at a pace we cannot sustain. The water rates are already so high I’ve been concerned about how seniors manage. A 41% increase is not reasonable. Add to the high price of water the fact that for 12 years I’ve not been able to open my bedroom window in the summer because of the horrible crap my neighbor burns every single evening. Add to that the stench of the treatment plant every summer & S. Milwaukee isn’t all that desirable a place to retire. I’m glad you’re making improvements to the city, & wish you all the best.
Joke, congrats. Prorated is not 2 increases 4 months apart. Guess I’ll shower with bottled water.
You’ve literally done nothing since becoming Mayor but raise taxes and waste money on the business district while the rest of this town goes to pot.
Let’s just keep voting him in though, he does have a nice smile. But all those pretty new signs everywhere. Pug, doesn’t that count for something?
Shame on you for allowing this to happen. I am 70 years old. live alone and my last water bill was 140.00. Our property taxes are in the top 30 cities highest in the State. Per your recent blog you are asking the State to raise levies so that you can again raise our property taxes. When will it end?
This rate increase and its ripple effect is unfortunate. Something with this water utility project seems amiss.
I am in agreement with the other posters on this blog. The water rate increase is unacceptable. As homeowner in South Milwaukee for the last 15 years, I, like many other residents, take pride in my property and our community. My wife and I enjoy a summer filled with colorful flower beds and a lush green lawn. To keep the flowers beds healthy and lawn lush requires frequent irrigation; liquid gold in South Milwaukee. The rate hike will impede our summer plans.
The details of the water utility upgrade are ambiguous. Why there wasn’t an operational cost update(s) in the past 9 years? Slamming a 35.33% operating cost increase to make up is acceptable? The DNR mandated that the clear wells needed to be replaced in 2008. Why did the city administration wait 10-11 years to comply? Additionally, engineering decided to upgrade pumping stations on top of the other needs.
In my opinion, this is poor management on the part of the water utility, engineering department, and city governing officials. Capitalization of this magnitude would never happen in the private sector. Knowing the past timeframe involved, why weren’t these issues addressed over the past 10 years? An epic fail performing a huge systematic upgrade in a small community with reduced usage passing the buck onto the residents. Were there any cost savings potentials looked at? Renewable energy, automation, collaboration with neighboring communities to help lower operational cost?
If the aforementioned officials were department heads in the private sector, and allowed a project like this to happen, they’d all be fired if the company didn’t go bankrupt first.
What about small business and redevelopment that seems to be the goal of our city administration? How attractive will the steep water rates look to businesses that would possibly move to SM? How will the rate increases affect small businesses (restaurants) that need water for cooking and cleaning? One would have to believe that their operational costs would 1) be passed on to the customer, or 2) make them leave SM altogether, possibly even close their doors…
What about the streets in this community. “Click Fix” users are always reporting pot holes and broken up pavement. The standard response is “Issue forwarded to the street department.” The only major street work in queue seems to be in the downtown area.
As others have stated, it’s time to let go of down town. What about the rest of the community?