Michigan City links October rate rollout to $15m wastewater financing push

Michigan City links October rate rollout to $15m wastewater financing pushMichigan City Sanitary District expects its amended rates and fees to begin appearing on customer bills in October, while preparing the approvals needed for a $15 million bond anticipation note. The short-term borrowing is intended to support priority projects and engineering under the district's capital improvement plan.

The first phase of the rate adjustment took effect on 1 September, with meter reading and billing changes expected to put the increases on October bills.

The board authorized engagement of Barnes and Thornburg and Krohn and Associates for legal and municipal-accounting services associated with the proposed $15 million bond anticipation note.

The district expects to begin the bond approval sequence in October, seek city council action in November, and complete the process by year-end; the stated worst-case completion date is March 2027.

Planned engineering work tied to the financing includes a primary-treatment retrofit, collection-system and lift-station improvements, and detailed engineering for wider wastewater treatment plant upgrades.

A second rate-adjustment phase is already incorporated in the ordinance for January 2028, followed by a required biennial rate review in mid-2028.

Michigan City Sanitary District is preparing to translate its amended rate and fee structure into customer bills in October as it advances a proposed $15 million bond anticipation note to fund priority capital planning and engineering. The district said the first phase of its rate adjustment took effect on 1 September. Water Department meter reading in October will trigger the first bills showing the increased charges. Staff are working to load the new fees into the billing system, prepare customer communications and train personnel to respond to questions. The board authorized the engagement of Barnes and Thornburg for legal services and Krohn and Associates for municipal accounting services related to the proposed bond anticipation note. The Director of Public Works said the borrowing is needed to support key projects and engineering required under the capital improvement plan. The district's updated two-year schedule sets out the required approval route. First, the sanitary board is expected to consider a declaratory resolution at its October meeting. The matter would then go to Michigan City Council for a resolution approving the district's bond anticipation note resolution, currently anticipated in November. Once council has acted, the sanitary district would ratify the action. The district engineer said completion of those steps by the end of 2026 would allow its financial and legal consultants to market the borrowing, select a purchaser and close the transaction. The stated worst-case scenario is completion by March 2027. The timing is intended to align financing with engineering work on a primary-treatment retrofit, collection-system improvements, lift-station improvements and detailed engineering for full wastewater treatment plant improvements. The district engineer said an earlier estimate of around $100 million for plant upgrades was based on roughly 30% engineering and included a 30% contingency. Engineering during 2027 is intended to provide better cost estimates ahead of the next formal rate review. The board also heard that the second phase of the already approved rate adjustment is scheduled for January 2028. That phase is intended to further establish the district's financial position before the city-required biennial rate review in mid-2028. The engineer said that review will consider updated plant-upgrade estimates and potential system-development-charge revenue from additional development. Alongside the rate implementation, the district is improving its SSI sewer-billing software by importing parcel-level data. Staff said this would support lien work, revenue capture and future customer notifications, including notices associated with the bond anticipation note.