Committee favors water bill increase

Water bills would go up by a dime a month to pay for required testing and upgrades at the state's Department of Health under a bill supported Wednesday by a legislative committee.

The House Committee on City, County, and Local Affairs recommended passage of House Bill 1737 -- by Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville, and Sen. Dave Wallace, R-Leachville -- which would raise the rate for public water systems from 30 cents to 40 cents each month.

"The federal government has enacted more stringent guidelines for water testing on municipal and water district services," Douglas said. "That costs money. More testing, more time, new equipment, more complex test, more monitoring. A lot of these districts don't have the money to provide that."

[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]

Jeff Stone with the Health Department told the committee that the rate increase would generate more than $1 million annually, raising the amount dedicated to state water testing from about $4.1 million to $5.5 million per year.

-- Jeannie Roberts

Upcoming Events