A Macon household that uses 4,000 gallons a month would pay about $53 more for water and sewer once increases tied to the Nov. 3 bond question are complete.
The question asks voters to allow up to $80 million in combined waterworks and sewerage system revenue bonds to build and improve the city's water and sewer systems, according to a bond-election page Macon Municipal Utilities posted Thursday. MMU is the city's electric, water, wastewater, and natural gas utility.
Bills would rise in steps over the next few years, and the figures the utility published are the final step, according to the page. The residential increase at 4,000 gallons totals $52.66: $18.42 for water and $34.24 for sewer.
The page lists the increases, not the resulting bills, and does not give the current charge at that usage. A commercial customer using 100,000 gallons would pay $605.90 more, and an industrial customer using 1.5 million gallons would pay $8,377.81 more.
MMU attributes $50 million of the request to the water plant and $30 million to the sewer plant, using estimates from two independent engineering firms, according to the page.
The same page carries a different sewer figure. One of its questions reads, "If the sewer plant has added headworks, dewatering and UV systems in recent years why does it still need $24.6 million?" MMU's answer describes the project as the final step that folds in those earlier upgrades, without reconciling the $24.6 million with the $30 million in the page's own breakdown.
Principal and interest on the bonds would come solely from the net revenues the city takes in from operating the combined system, according to the ballot language, not from a property tax.
The water plant was built in 1966, and a basin liner added in 1997 is failing, according to the page. Treatment capacity is maxed out during peak summer demand, and a major leak at that time of year could require mandatory conservation.
The city already owns land near the plant, the former Baker Auto Salvage property, with room for expansion, the page states. The utility ran a trial from fall 2025 to spring 2026 of the technology likely to be used in a new plant.
The sewer plant was built in 1960. Its settling basin is corroded and the concrete in its trickling filter is deteriorating, the page says. Because Macon runs a combined stormwater and sewer system, major rain events push the plant past capacity.
Treated water leaving the sewer plant does not meet Missouri discharge standards, and the plant's processes cannot treat pollutants including ammonia and phosphorus, according to the page. The utility expects a permit written specifically for Macon's plant within the next year, carrying more stringent limits on those pollutants.
Approval would not create immediate debt, the page states, comparing bonding authority to a pre-approval or a line of credit that opens access to State Revolving Fund loans and grants. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources targets those loans at 30% of market rate.
Market rates on 20- to 30-year terms run 6.25% to 6.75%, and fund rates at 30% of market would be 1.875% to 2.025%, according to the page. MMU puts the savings at $81,045,000 over the life of an $80 million, 30-year bond, comparing 6.75% interest with 2.025%.
The page states that a no vote leaves the need in place, delays the work, and may make financing more costly. On the water side, the utility expects development to be limited by maxed capacity, mandatory conservation to remain possible in peak months when a leak or a fire draws on the system, and the chance of age-related failures to keep rising.
On the sewer side, discharge violations could bring large fines and state enforcement action, and the city could lose development if the state prohibits new connections, according to the page.
The ballot asks whether the city will "issue its combined waterworks and sewerage system revenue bonds in the amount not to exceed $80,000,000 for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, extending, and improving its combined waterworks and sewerage system." The full wording is posted at maconutilities.com, where MMU says more questions and answers will be added.