If you pay for utilities at your apartment, your rates will be going up Oct. 1. Even if you don’t pay for utilities, your rental rate could increase as landlords look to make back some of the money lost in increased rates and fees.
Columbia City Council approved the city budget for the 2013 fiscal year Monday night. The budget managed to decrease the city’s debt from $2.3 million to $1.3 million, which it plans to cover in next year’s budget.
To achieve this $1 million budget surplus, the city had to raise certain fees for utilities. The sewage service rate increased by 15 percent, raising the average residential bill by $3.16 to an average monthly rate of $24.20. This increase is expected to produce an extra $2.45 million in revenue.
The city council also raised electricity rates from $7.20 per kilowatt hour per month to $8.45 per kilowatt hour per month. This is expected to raise revenues by $1.7 million. Along with electricity rates, the city council also raised water rates by 5 percent, resulting in an expected $1.06 million increase in revenue.
Landlords seem just as angry as tenants are about this increase. Stanley Diaz, an owner of several apartments, expressed his frustration at these increases to the city council. Diaz is afraid these rate increases will force costs back onto the consumer.
“We have seen problems with tenants being able to pay for utilities and rents,” he said. “We’re having a difficult time, and we don’t want to have to raise rents anymore.”
Another potential cause for an increase in fees is the newly approved increase in inspection fees. The city increased the inspection fees from $7 to $15 and the inspection fees from $20 to $25. Diaz said though an increase in only $8 and $5 doesn’t seem like a lot, he thinks these additional costs will be passed onto the consumer.
“Like any business, if you raise the overhead cost, the price goes up,” he said.
Diaz said he also expects the quality of houses to go down. If the property is not profitable, then there is no incentive for the landlords to renovate the property, Diaz said.
Columbia Apartment Association representative Matt Colgin said recently fees have started to snowball on apartment owners with the recent increase in property taxes, the increased utility rates and the new increased registration fees.
The city council also discussed requiring landlords to fill out more paperwork explicitly stating who lives in the apartments to prevent students from living on their friend’s couches.
All these recent increased costs have Colgin and Diaz thinking rent will likely increase soon for students and tenants.
“We have tried not raising rates,” Diaz said. “We’re just the middle men.”
