Springdale Water Utility Rate Change
A Letter from our Executive Director:
December 2024
Dear Customer,
As you may have heard or read, Springdale Water Utilities will be raising its rates effective
January 1, 2025. Every five years SWU does a Master Plan, a Rate Study, and puts forth a
Strategic Plan for the future of our system and the community. That is how we determine
what our priorities are and what rates will need to be charged.
What makes this five-year cycle extraordinary is the fact we have dealt with record inflation
and rising prices, especially for materials and construction. A million-dollar project three
years ago now costs almost double.
Because we have to maintain and grow a system that serves over 120,000 people in four
cities and two counties, we must be able to provide a high level of maintenance, future
capacity, and availability. This also keeps our fire protection at the highest level as a Class 1
city. This keeps your property insurance at the lowest rates possible and protects our
families and businesses. Not only is clean water and adequate sewer service important to
our homes, it is necessary in order to serve our schools, hospitals and many other quality of
life facilities.
In order to offset the cost of growth, the City of Springdale implemented impact fees so that
cost of projects related to development would be paid through fees on construction projects
that require this additional system growth.
There are two charts to the right. One is a monthly bill estimator for you to budget what
your future bill may look like. The other chart is Springdale’s present and future rates
compared to many of our neighbors. The impact fees are what keeps your residential and
business rates lower. Fayetteville, Rogers, Bentonville and Tontitown charge similar fees to
help keep their rates at a lower level. As you can see, Springdale is still a leader in value.
We process about 14 million gallons a day of wastewater and serve as much as 20 million
gallons per day of healthy and safe water. We appreciate you as a customer, and we hope
that you will still see the value that SWU brings you in terms of quality, service and price.
Clean water and adequate sewer are foundational to any successful civilization.
Bill Estimator
(Does not include trash, city services, and sales tax)
