MSD Unveils Plan to Raise Rates By 64 percent Throughout Four Years
Increased revenue would fund improvements required by federal consent decree agreement with regulatory agencies.
The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) has announced a proposal to ask the public for a $945-million bond issue in the April 2012 election. If the bond issue passes, MSD would raise the average homeowner’s monthly bill by nearly 64 percent throughout the course of four years. The bond issue would help fund a $1-billion capital improvement plan that would help MSD meet federal consent decree requirements. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Missouri Coalition for the Environment filed a lawsuit to require MSD to upgrade its sewer and wastewater treatment plants. The consent decree came out of mediation efforts. “There never was a question of whether these improvements …
