‘Beyond ridiculous’: Lancaster County family outraged over 550% water bill increase

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Customers are frustrated after the Lancaster Rural Water District raised rates this month.

The district said the increased prices are due to “inflation, land purchase for a second wellfield … and other overall costs associated with running the water district.”

For the Bakers, a family of four, it will raise their bill by about 550%.

Jamie Baker said last May, they used 73,000 gallons of water, which cost $386.

That same amount of water will now cost them $2,528.

“That’s beyond ridiculous,” Baker said. “People can’t afford that. That’s almost as much as people’s mortgage payments. The amount of increase that they’re wanting to give us is just not feasible.”

Baker called the district to ask about the increase.

She said she was told that some residents are using upward of 100,000 gallons of water per month in the summer.

The price hike is intended to combat overuse of water, according to Baker.

The rate changes become steeper as more water is used.

A customer who uses 100,000 gallons of water will now be paying $9,278, which is an increase of $7,542.

“Basically, people are abusing the system,” Baker said. “They just don’t have a station that can keep up with the demand, and I feel like they’re punishing the consumer for something that they caused themselves instead of working with us to find a solution.”

Baker said if the goal is to make people mindful of water use, the district should have gone about it differently.

“I understand there’s drought conditions and things like that, and we can all work on water efficiency,” she said. “That takes time, and that takes money to change our landscaping. And they didn’t give us an option to work with us or educate us. They just sprung this on us.”

Channel 8 reached out to the water district for an interview. No one was available, but the district provided the letter that was sent to customers.

Baker is hoping to gather neighbors to attend the next water district board meeting on April 10.