Del City approves new utility fees
Brittany Parrott, interim public works director, speaks during a Del City Council meeting on Oct. 6. Photo by Lea Terry
By Lea Terry
Midwest City Beacon
Del City residents will soon see several changes on their utility bills. At its October 6 meeting, the city council voted to approve two new utility fees: a stormwater fee that replaces the previous drainage fee, and a streets surcharge.
The stormwater fee is $2 per one-fourth of an acre, rounded up to the nearest one-fourth acre using data from the Oklahoma County Assessor. The fees will be used for stormwater utility purposes such as operations, testing and other essential tasks. The streets surcharge is a new $2.50 monthly fee charged to all utility accounts for tasks such as street maintenance and traffic controls. The street fee ordinance allows for an increase based on inflation using data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Money from the streets surcharge will go into a fund set aside solely for street-related purposes.
Interim Public Works Director Brittany Parrott provided an update on several of the utility rate changes at the meeting, and stressed that the changes don’t go into effect until January 1, 2026.
However, residents may see a temporary increase from now through December as the city implements a change to the billing schedule. The city’s previous billing structure used four cycles a month, which required sending out bills, imposing late fees and posting payments four times a month. To streamline the process, the city is shifting to two cycles per month, which Parrott said will be more efficient. Parrott said residents may see slightly higher bills between now and December, because the city will add several days to each resident’s bill so that all residents are aligned to the new billing schedule.
“The good news is, with the additional 12 day prorate amounts that you’re seeing on your bills, those are either the same or more than what they will be after the rate increase goes into effect,” Parrott said.
Ward 4 Councilperson Scott Tatom noted that he had received many complaints in the past from residents about the billing cycles.
“This is an effort to clear that up and finally get it back on track,” he said.
The city first discussed the changes at its September 2 meeting, and then approved many of the changes at a September 25 special meeting. At the time, city leaders stressed that while other metro areas had already raised their rates, Del City had not increased rates in several years.
Parrott and other city leaders noted rising operational costs and the need to ensure the city can perform critical maintenance and prevent any issues that could cost even more money down the line and potentially turn into emergency situations.
