“I was in talks with the city manager of one of the towns I have a wash in and he mentioned something about the sewer rates probably need adjusted for car washes….”
The general rule is a utility can have low rates or high quality service but not both.
Higher rates is inevitable in many areas of U.S. because the infrastructure is old and worn out or development and growth has overwhelmed it.
The average cost of utility service across the country has been increasing by 5 to 6 percent a year.
Also, utilities use input/output model – water and sewer because they are interrelated.
Rate increases are especially troubling to deal with in low density areas (rural and semi-rural) because there are simply less businesses and residents to split the cost.
So, before I’d jump off a cliff looking for gobs of stuff to defend business operation, I look deeper into what is causing city manager to hedge.