Cape Girardeau voters will head to the polls on August 5th, 2025, to decide on a key issue—whether to allow higher water rate increases to help fund improvements to the city’s water system.
Right now, the City Charter caps water, sewer, and solid waste fee hikes at 5 percent per year. That’s under Section 6.13, known as the Fee Limitation.
But city officials say that limit just isn’t cutting it. They argue it’s not enough to cover the costs of maintaining and upgrading the water system, especially when it comes to keeping up with demand and ensuring quality.
The proposed ballot measure would raise that cap to 15 percent per year, but only as needed. Supporters say it would give the city more flexibility to fund critical infrastructure projects, without automatically raising rates every year.
This isn’t the first time voters have seen a proposal like this. A similar measure was on the ballot back in November 2024, but it didn’t pass.
A yes vote this time around would amend the city charter, allowing the city council to set water, sewer, and solid waste fees by ordinance, based on what’s needed to keep the system running smoothly.
At issue is that rates are too low to qualify for infrastructure grant funding. The acceptable national standard Affordability Index (AI) for water is 1.0 percent. This means the average household using 5,000 gallons of water per month pays 1 percent of its income to pay the water bill. Various state and federal funding sources look at a city’s AI to determine if its residents are paying their part. The City’s current AI is 0.76, meaning rates are too low to qualify for state or federal grants to help with our funding needs.
According to the City of Cape's calculations, the Charter amendment will slowly align rates with costs, without an increase over 15% in any one year—or typically $4.71 per month. Every year, as part of the budget process, the Council votes to establish utility rates for the upcoming fiscal year.
The Year 1 rate increase is planned to be 10% if passed. Residential would see a monthly increase of $1.47 to $5.58 per month, depending on usage. The 15% increase will continue for two years before reducing back to 5 percent.
There is an upcoming voter education event on July 14, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Shawnee Center, hosted by Ward 2 Representative Tameka Randle. City staff, officials, and volunteers will also be on hand to discuss the issue.
A virtual presentation about the city's water needs can be found here.
The vote is set for Tuesday, August 5th.
More information about the single ballot issue for the City of Cape Girardeau is available on the city’s website. Voting times, locations, and ballot language can be found on the Cape Girardeau County Clerk's website.
