$542 – $1,665 ave. costs

Utility rates for Tulsa residents rose again in November.

The City Council approved the higher utility rates based on the recommendation of the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority and the Stormwater Drainage and Hazard Mitigation Advisory Board.

Most residential utility customers saw a 6% increase in the combined water and sewer bills. The stormwater fee jumped by 9% (from $7.66 to $8.35 a month).

City officials said this would mean an extra $30 a year for a customer who uses 3,000 gallons a month. That average bill rose from $43.68 to $45.18 a month.

For customers who use 7,500 gallons a month, the water/sewer bill will go up $63.48 a year. It increased from $85.69 to $90.98 a month.

If a customer uses 12,000 gallons a month, the annual increase is now $96.96 more. The average rate jumped from $128.69 to $138.77 per month.

That means that low-usage customers will pay an average of $542.16 a year for water and sewer.

Medium users will pay $1,091.76 a year and high users will pay $1,665.24.

In fiscal year 2019, Tulsa’s two water plants pumped 35.3 billion gallons through 2,363 miles of waterlines to 143,646 connections to 635,000 paying customers.

Tulsa has about 2,000 miles of sanitary sewer lines to four wastewater treatment plants that treated 21.6 billion gallons of water last year.

Tulsa’s stormwater fee pays for maintenance of the city’s drainage system which has 68,532 manholes, inlets and structures; 1,182 miles of storm sewer lines; 978 miles of roadside ditches; 713 bridges and culverts; 66 miles of creek channels; 123 detention ponds and 2,370 acres that require mowing.