Atlanta is considering legislation that could raise water and sewer rates for continued improvements to its dilapidated sanitation system. Most of those improvements will be bond funded.
The City Council is in recess, and members will return Monday. When they do, they are expected to discuss the rate hike.
Last year, the council approved the issuance of up to $1.2 billion of commercial paper for water and wastewater capital improvements, marking the first time the city will use the debt instrument for those kinds of projects. The total cost of the commercial improvement program is $3.2 billion. To help fund it, in addition to the CP, notes could be issued by the end of the year.
This CP program will be the second time the city has issued the short-term notes. The first was last year when it sold $550 million of commercial paper for the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Those notes had revolving terms of up to 270 days.
One of the largest issuances the city embarked upon for its water and wastewater capital improvement plan was in 2004 when about $850 million of water and wastewater revenue bonds were sold.
